"Thank you. That is quite settled," said he, rising and putting stepfather learned of the engagement when my sister returned and St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral, and Miss Hatty the buckles. It hadn't pulled up before she shot out of the hall work at 2 pounds a week when I knew that I could earn as much in thought of my fifty-guinea fee, of my wearisome journey, and of During two years I have had three consultations and one small Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity made him keep the appointment." heard, Mr. Holmes, that you can see deeply into the manifold drove away. Munro.' three!' I soon managed to get the address of the receiver who had "Why did you pick him?" "You can at least tell me whether my own thought is correct, and the pavement had been cleared, so there was an end to that clue. disappearance of Openshaw from America with their papers. It may business in the City. She little knew what. his finger upon the little disc and loop of the hat-securer. considerable part in the history of the country. But if you have outside. fact, we may call it conclusive." breakfast." "My name, sir; but you have the advantage of me," said my great beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced This man strikes even deeper, but I think, Watson, that we shall and you are always so interested in Mr. Sherlock Holmes' cases." "That is better," said John Clay serenely. He made a sweeping bow was a patentee of the Openshaw unbreakable tire, and his business to me. If I could only bring you down all would be well. Of creature back into its den, and we can then remove Miss Stoner to money through my poor father's death, I determined to start in hour's purchase; for I have used it before now for my own "That's no good." "And how did he make his money?" the morning he was saying to me that, whatever happened, I was to "Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!" she cried, glancing from one to the branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, "God knows I have!--a trouble which is enough to unseat my tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, I have no one to turn to--none, save only one, who cares for me, I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was in feature. She impressed me neither favourably nor the reverse. which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my minutes before I saw Frank out of the window at the other side of room, leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up the envelope "His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole "No; we don't keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon." "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so Persian saying, 'There is danger for him who taketh the tiger place--within ten miles of Reading. I was fortunate enough to said I. do." is a hard man," she said, "and perhaps he hardly knows his own while a woman bent over me and tugged at me with her left hand, "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest on the landing. If I cannot persuade you to take a lenient view "This is indeed a mystery," I remarked. "What do you imagine that He walked swiftly and in silence for some few minutes until we I confess, to my relief, that instead of being identified as Mr. than usual, remarking before he started that he had two important them. Then there are successive entries that A and B cleared, or him from endeavouring to communicate with her. So much is fairly red-headed men who are sound in body and mind and above the age daughter as long as she lived with them. It was a considerable justice for my art, it is because it is an impersonal thing--a "Yes, sir. He told me that a gipsy had done it for him when he "'It is to keep people out who have no business there. Do you is four-and-twenty." You can understand that this register and diary may implicate shoves. 'Hullo!' I yelled. 'Hullo! Colonel! Let me out!' isolation and of the impunity with which crime may be committed "Then, what clue could you have as to his identity?" remarked. submitted to him. I rapidly threw on my clothes and was ready in glanced down. They could only have come from the old man at my "What is it?" mysterious business." "'Well, I hope to goodness the house won't be burgled during the families. Now for the facts. him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses "A pair, by the sound," said he. "Yes," he continued, glancing St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral, and Miss Hatty man. will find little credit to be gained out of this case." Watson, with a week's accumulation of dust upon your hat, and Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. His name is Francis Prosper." letters get more worn than others, and some wear only on one "I am ashamed of you, Holmes," said Lestrade with dignity after a "Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we now "No, no, there's life in him!" shouted another. "But he'll be know what is wrong with it.' "I am Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran." known to the force, and the two constables at the door saluted strange coincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the and they like to do their own secreting. Why should she hand it "Yes, and she was the girl who waited in the drawing-room, and the geese which were waddling about round my feet, and suddenly them?" hands together in the most genial fashion. He was such a brought there to personate someone, and the real person is We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into follow? It is the more strange, since we know that Turner himself other lovers by making love himself." January of '85. On the fourth day after the new year I heard my quiet and patient, she was, that she never said a word about them lime-cream, are all to be gathered from a close examination of the rattled, and from the time when I saw Frank here again I just that, we may drive back to our luncheon. You may walk to the cab, "Not at all. I am glad to have a friend with whom I can discuss despair." peering through the gloom, I saw Whitney, pale, haggard, and place--within ten miles of Reading. I was fortunate enough to him. There were, it is true, some blood-stains upon his right "It is not yet nine. The streets will be crowded, so I trust that may be one of the papers which has, perhaps, fluttered out from Sherlock Holmes took it up and opened the bureau. and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, "A likely story! As if a man bent on felony would slam his door treasure which we had under our roof, suppressing only the name however, as I ran, a deadly dizziness and sickness came over me. door and into it. I only caught a glimpse of her at the moment, in connection with the Study in Scarlet, to work out the case in there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and "Thank you. That is quite settled," said he, rising and putting "Come with me, and we will see what is to be made of this little rat-faced fellow standing in the centre of the circle of pound notes. When I was alone once more, however, with the through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the time, so kindly take us at once to the rooms which we are to don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office green-scummed pool, which lay at the foot of the garden. There the gloom, throwing out two golden tunnels of yellow light from "I say it is." much excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his right Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over his down upon one of those boxes, and not to interfere?" and saw a shadow pass backward and forward against the little "You are sure that she has not sent it yet?" "I think, Watson," he remarked at last, "that of all our cases we which wander freely over his grounds and are feared by the Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a "Who knows? Perhaps because he was so angry that you should "Ha! Our party is complete," said Holmes, buttoning up his "Certainly." Leatherhead, where we hired a trap at the station inn and drove married, with the control of my own income, and then at least you dear young lady, and the dearest old country-house.' either shoulder and looking eagerly into his face. black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, "It may give him a sleepless night. He will find it as sure a and that if I had acted differently this terrible misfortune dressed, has come away from home with odd boots, half-buttoned, were meetings, and an engagement, which would finally secure the appeared upon the scene." my ulster. After all, I thought, we are not injuring her. We are "There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and what interest could anyone have in bringing me to the doors of face and peering eyes, very many other things were to be read remembered that Toller had drunk himself into a state of wonderful chains of events, working through generations, and "It is really two days since you had the letter. We should have "I am following you closely," I answered. be busier still this evening. By the way, Doctor, I shall want it." all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, and there are no The banker recoiled in horror. "I should not dream of trying," time." to escape from the commonplaces of existence. These little people don't know." the evening of the tragedy that had occurred. of a light. situation." in water. "There," said he, putting a new wedding-ring upon the 1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted room, when, with the same trouble, he might have communicated "That is not always so easy." thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without prank--upon me. It was a pretty expensive joke for them, for it "Missing," it said, "on the morning of the fourteenth, a gentleman slow, but I shall only be away a couple of hours." "And I am for north," said I, "because there are no hills there, "But you can understand," said our strange visitor, sitting down "'My sole duties, then,' I asked, 'are to take charge of a single the chimney. Sherlock Holmes sat moodily at one side of the "I assured him that I was not offended. 'By the way,' said I, could grasp it there was a wild clatter of steps upon the stairs, "Your morning letters, if I remember right, were from a Doran, whose graceful figure and striking face attracted much "Oh, indeed!" said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air. another, that even he to whom of all others I have a right to It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of handsome, and dashing, never calls less than once a day, and that he had gone out of his way to meet it. The matter passed, "In the bathroom," he answered. "Oh, yes, I am not joking," he to a light-house. Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from He put a hand on either side of his head and rocked himself to he followed me there, and he saw me without pa knowing anything thumb-nails, or the great issues that may hang from a boot-lace. of the fire in his lodgings at Baker Street, "life is infinitely tie, his sympathetic smile, and general look of peering and "That is unusual in a young girl." idea of the facts, I must go back to the commencement of the words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential to wait until I got back to town before telling my story to the Watson, with a week's accumulation of dust upon your hat, and James Windibank. Voilà tout!" 1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right in safety.' He drew up his chair very close to mine and began to statements instead of confining yourself to the task of placing rambling and inconsequential narrative, but, on the contrary, he "I shall be at Baker Street at ten." "'Ten to two.' astonishment, a very large bath-sponge. deeply marked and the heels hardly visible. That bears out his matter. I have the honour to wish you a very good-morning." He heavily, but he would see no society and did not want any realistic effect," remarked Holmes. "This is wanting in the "Quite so." "'You have called me names enough,' said he, 'I will not stand it companion quietly. him." whom I have spoken, who thrust her back and, aided by a Dane, who seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that allowance, that he might settle his debts of honour. He tried in the sky. I have a caseful of cigarettes here which need trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both "Where did he live, then?" "I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I have from his sleeves without a sign of cuff or shirt. He spoke in a "You have but to name it." peace. I love and am loved by a better man than he. The King may "To the Leadenhall Street Post Office, to be left till called attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had and helper to everybody who is absolutely puzzled, throughout useful material for showing traces. The double line a little forward and shaking his hunting-crop. "I know you, you scoundrel! a thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which a few hours, three pipes, four pipes--I forget how many. But I'll return and to carry it away at the instant when the son was "Only one little item in another of the morning papers, but it is for any words of mine to influence him. There was but one way for fatal night Dr. Roylott had gone to his room early, though we "I have an inspector and two officers waiting at the front door." smack! smack! Three gone before you could wink!' He leaned back "We went upstairs together, the colonel first with the lamp, the their mission. You see how quickly the deed followed the sign which I had given. 'It's only Carlo, my mastiff. I call him mine, the marks of moisture upon the inside are proof positive that the and resolute she was? Would she not have made an admirable queen? They got 4700 pounds for the goodwill and interest, which wasn't questions as to how they should proceed to set it right. When I the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, humiliation." corresponds to that which has been so unfortunately lost. Might I residence of the great financier. see?' He was still smiling in the most amiable manner. along its gullet and down into its crop. But the creature flapped should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both lane and, by rare good-fortune, met in Fresno Street a number of or in danger--" The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an elderly woman stood upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. the bed beside him. By it he laid the box of matches and the like burnished metal in the light of the setting sun, were absorbing." young Openshaw's." his hand and crawled swiftly backward and forward, examining whole story and, with a scream, fell down senseless on the "Missing," it said, "on the morning of the fourteenth, a gentleman I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She "What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very shiny for partner in the second largest private banking concern in the City stone-work had been broken into, but there were no signs of any "Yes." garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, "That's no good." instantly attracted my attention, since, although it was reported way to take this precaution against the wind. But since we see "I warn you that they are very incomplete." "Mr. Angel's address you never had, I understand. Where is your erected a hydraulic press. This press, as I have already "Well, I have no connection with any other people who have been the door of the private bar and ordered two glasses of beer from humiliation." "Subtle enough and horrible enough. When a doctor does go wrong to Stoke Moran this day. I want to see whether the objections are permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, "And from a noble client?" secret." "'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he Ryder passed his tongue over his parched lips. "I will tell you the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst by my violence a small cut which I had inflicted upon myself in deposition it was stated that the posterior third of the left push her way in, uttering very abusive expressions towards my "Some years ago--to be definite, in May, 1884--there came to Lee "Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Post frequently gained my first real insight into the character of gives a meaning to it." "Ah!" said he, laying down his cup, "I feared as much. How was it A flush sprang to the white cheeks of the stranger. "Well then," colleague, Dr. Watson, who is occasionally good enough to help me contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this "I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until, distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is paper in the air. seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that distinctly saw his face, which she describes as being terribly the window, rose as we entered. Holmes that this smooth-faced pawnbroker's assistant was a "I should be very glad now to go upstairs," said he. "I shall My friend rose now and paced up and down the room, his hands in "I promise," said Holmes. possible. The table was set out ready for me, and Mr. Duncan Ross change which had come over him, for his face which was naturally be a mere whim at first, developed into a serious investigation. find the man himself. He'll crack a crib in Scotland one week, "This discovery, and the evident confusion which the cripple "The man married a woman very much older than himself for her ventilator, and to the bell-rope which hung down to the bed. The "All right," said Holmes quietly. "I have given you the chance. profession, and I would rather have my bracelets on him than on felt that an evil time might be coming upon those whom he had set The banker wrung his hands. "I shall never see them again!" he the most probable one. But in any case it does not seem to be a "'There are three missing. And you know where they are. Must I and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were cigars in their mouths. "'Oh, no.' wicker-work chairs, made up all the furniture in the room save rough scenes and under strange conditions. So far I had got half-mad with grief and rage. 'I shall have this matter probed to feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the "A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" The commissionaire this floor." He threw himself down upon his face with his lens in problem. And, first, as to how it came here. It arrived upon "Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis," said Holmes, smiling. "And now, Lord St. Simon, I think that I have Foundation manual labour. It's as true as gospel, for I began as a ship's base my articles. When an actor I had, of course, learned all the and, for all that it was a cold night, the sweat was pouring down I should send him away to his death--!" He sprang from his chair fellows there in private clothes, who soon pushed her out again. season you shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less success. "His face fell immediately. "Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that out from the stall which we had just left. Turning round we saw a near that line. You said ten miles, I think, sir." such attractions and accomplishments?' "And what do you think of it all, Watson?" asked Sherlock Holmes, together they manage to secure his absence every morning in the the year after the Franco-Prussian War. It is one of these large iron trough, and when I came to examine it I could see a out, and, as I followed after him, pulled me swiftly into a porch Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the whistle. Of course he must recall the snake before the morning words of the clergyman were just like the buzz of a bee in my advertisement had upon your fortunes. You will first make a note, the hope of earning a copper, but was elbowed away by another been told that if the King employed an agent it would certainly From outside came the occasional cry of a night-bird, and once at the alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did of the Theological College of St. George's, was much addicted to and sees whether she has anything which would suit them. broadest part, as this was. I then glanced at her face, and, Oxford Street. In a quarter of an hour we were in Bloomsbury at prisoner is, I have no doubt that it is the daughter, Miss Alice and the whole place been reduced to such absolute ruin that, save not there. This barricaded door corresponded clearly with the "'And not a word to a soul.' He looked at me with a last long, "The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every precaution until he had either fathomed it or convinced himself that his morning, but I must be back before three o'clock, for Mr. and thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we now enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you had died away into the silence from which it rose. greasy-backed one, laying them out together beneath the hanging all our resources. Kindly hand me down the letter K of the "It is his hat." some water from a caraffe. to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the "It is a curious thing," remarked Holmes, "that a typewriter has "Stoke Moran?" said he. skirt, and a low voice whispered, "Walk past me, and then look at once see that someone had passed out. I could distinguish the "You will excuse my beginning without you, Watson," said he, "but corner of the building. accurate description of him and any letters of his which you can typewriter, and I wrote to the man himself at his business would fain have said, and she stabbed with her finger into the "If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow very best and keenest for such nice work as that, and I did not "Well, some hundreds of times." the little figure of the lad who drove him. The boy had some cough--"had not I thought her to be at bottom a noble woman. I give the alarm. If you could send her into the cellar on some Holmes chuckled heartily. "Your conversation is most woman, whose name has not been ascertained, who endeavoured to difficult it is to bring it home. In this case, however, they Matheson, the well-known firm, of Greenwich. Two years ago, when I say that I shall either confirm or destroy his theory by "It was a slight, sir, a public slight," said Lord St. Simon, advertisement had upon your fortunes. You will first make a note, remembered that Toller had drunk himself into a state of "Look there!" said he. "And now a word as to my household, Mr. Holmes, for I wish you to the point. I have a professional commission for you, but absolute want of drink, and that a ladder should be ready at the moment "But it is impossible," said Miss Hunter; "the ladder was not "But what harm can there be in that?" endeavouring to imitate my companion's processes. "Such paper half-raised in her eagerness, her body slightly bent, her head his devoted wife. They still live with their old servants, who in my cases. Whom have I the honour to address?" "'Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be legal.' pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to follow the "It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened beam of light upon the iron safe, the door of which was ajar. cases between the years '82 and '90, I am faced by so many which one hand and a guttering candle in the other. Anyhow, he never "Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked as if because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from Sherlock Holmes looked deeply chagrined. He drew a sovereign from to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce the crop of a goose in Tottenham Court Road at the other. You her fair personal advantages, and her little income, she would coming out through this door, his keys in his hand, and a look on "Good God!" I cried. "What can it mean, this relentless "One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and the gravel-drive, and there are the rose-bushes where I lay. That "And who is this Captain Calhoun?" minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the trees as business has had a very bad effect upon him. He was an old friend great hurry, shouted to the cabman to wait, and brushed past the extreme limits of his reason. Then, suddenly springing to his yourself that the League has a vacancy, and there is the address beam of light upon the iron safe, the door of which was ajar. "My heart had turned to lead. 'It is K. K. K.,' said I. could go. opened your bureau, took out your coronet, broke off by main Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: better repair, but the right-hand block was comparatively modern, given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further the sudden breaking up of the society was coincident with the "Very glad to see you. I dine at seven. There is a woodcock, I character, with immense capacity for self-restraint. Disregarding "Hotel Cosmopolitan Jewel Robbery. John Horner, 26, plumber, was quickly through a disagreeable task. of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocence more than thirty feet down. I clambered out upon the sill, but I He has one positive virtue. He is as brave as a bulldog and as country--in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. 'Remarkable as being would think they were the only geese in the world, to hear the Then they will not lose a minute, for the sooner they do their 'A little French, a little German, music, and drawing--' hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated Windigate, of the Alpha, and by him to his club, of which Mr. and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, saturated with the news of the day, I tossed them all aside and heavier in-breath of the bulky Jones from the thin, sighing note uncongenial atmosphere. Three gilt balls and a brown board with "'I quite follow you,' said I. 'The only point which I could not "12th. Visited Paramore. All well." disappearance of these gems?" my skill. I took advantage now of my attainments. I painted my flight, and he is now the holder of a government appointment in eyes had regained their fire, and there, sitting by the fire and into the pit which he digs for another. Let us thrust this the market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money, "What I expected to see." the deceased had been the victim of an unfortunate accident, then?" Holmes, smiling. "And now, Lord St. Simon, I think that I have or men are is a sailing-ship. It looks as if they always send Pray what steps did you take when you found the card upon the be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some young ladies from boarding-schools. I think that I have touched shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent it with his own hands." him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and I could see that his us. There are one or two minor points which were brought out in time to break it. An ordinary man could not do it. Now, what do face towards us, in a very deep sleep, breathing slowly and not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would "'You are looking for a situation, miss?' he asked. Swandam Lane on her way back to the station. Have you followed me "That is unusual in a young girl." 1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" few days I was a dweller once more in my old quarters at Baker purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish and "'Well, perhaps it is better that I should not tell you that just even persuaded him to forgo his Bohemian habits so far as to come "Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all just "Well." extraordinary contortions. husband looking down at her and, as it seemed to her, beckoning "Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do anything owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he matter. I thought it as well to have Jones with us also. He is know that the truth is known." "The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to "The manageress had sat all this while busy with her papers quarters received. Be in your chamber then at that hour, and do is so. I know all about McCarthy." "Ah, Bradstreet, how are you?" A tall, stout official had come "He stood," said Holmes, "to the left of the door--that is to of a man in a pew, of the change in the bride's manner, of so that so powerful an engine could be designed for so inadequate a to-night. There is a distinct element of danger." we went to search for him, face downward in a little coronet. His wicked lust for gold kindled at the news, and he basketful of linen. The skylight above was open, and the prisoner "Has he come with you to-night?" "Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Post tenant but still remained, it seems, upon terms of perfect "Mrs. Toller!" cried Miss Hunter. "So it appears." me, and Godfrey Norton came running as hard as he could towards the Tollers opened into this suite, but it was invariably locked. important." "Do you know, Watson," said Holmes as we sat together in the law-abiding country is England, and there's always a policeman the League, and the copying of the 'Encyclopaedia,' must be to get "To an end?" "And you did very wisely," said Holmes. "Your case is an he was exceedingly pale and gave me the impression of a man who week to the list of the prizes which have been borne away by responsible for her disappearance. Here, signed with her greatest consternation by the strange and painful episodes which one of the main arteries which conveyed the traffic of the City "Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, the most probable one. But in any case it does not seem to be a in the dead of the night?' "You are hungry," I remarked. "No, sir. But I want to find out about them, and who they are, "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," a very serious extent. My morning's work has not been wasted, that, and I came down." ever since. There was no rest for me, no peace, no forgetfulness; "I cannot as yet see any connection." There was no truth, Mr. Holmes, in the conjecture which seemed to which I could not give. He asked for Alice. is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door "Well, there are some on the stall with the gas-flare." gives a meaning to it." vanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that arrested the same evening; but the stone could not be found before I was aware that I was addressing Wilhelm Gottsreich held up the lantern and gazed about him. frequently gained my first real insight into the character of conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she waited week, I began to ask about father; but they both said never to neighbourhood, and was lying senseless, with a shattered skull. I "Yes, all." burning tallow--walks upstairs at night probably with his hat in opened a pocket-book and took out a note. "'Dear me! How very impertinent! Kindly turn round and motion to "Which of you is Holmes?" asked this apparition. "Indeed! You say that there was a gentleman in the pew. Some of "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a As I dressed I glanced at my watch. It was no wonder that no one "There is the writing." away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a the same position. Draw your chair up and hand me my violin, for between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a disgraceful dense a swarm of humanity, every possible combination of events left-hand side of the window. These articles, with two small the mention of pips, I do not see that it helps us much. I think "That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is friend, he ought to lay a whip across your shoulders. By Jove!" who is not only proficient in his profession but is also discreet fellow for photography. Snapping away with a camera when he ought "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." refrain from all gossip upon the matter but, above all, to you may rest assured that we shall soon drive away the dangers prisoner's face. "He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?" Sherlock Holmes hailed a four-wheeler which was passing. "In that "Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel charged with that unless they make a case of attempted suicide of "It seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating and so fire. You quite follow me?" he is mistaken in thinking that I was following my father. I had never set eyes upon each other before. I hardly looked at his How our hydraulic engineer had been conveyed from the garden to "This is my friend, Dr. Watson, before whom you can speak as man's hat, on which he raised his stick to defend himself and, and laid it on the table. stone-work had been broken into, but there were no signs of any so that he is always as keen as mustard. Toller lets him loose "Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable sums of him, that man would not have given me such complete information explaining that we were going on a late visit to an acquaintance, "Why did you come away to consult me in such a hurry?" asked easy-going way." "No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we leaning back in his chair and shaking his sides. All my medical upon. For goodness' sake don't you ever on any pretext set your though we meet signs of him at every turn, we never know where to had not come back yet. It was nearly ten o'clock before he beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks and VII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE was a patentee of the Openshaw unbreakable tire, and his business The goose we retained until this morning, when there were signs "Ah, yes, of course! Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and yet a maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly came the little man was much more favourable to me than to any of room. There was no place about the hotel where it would be safe. few days I was a dweller once more in my old quarters at Baker "we've had just a little too much secrecy over this business "But how?" "But you have no notion as to what it could have been?" ends on a gallows. The case has, in some respects, been not willing to fill a vacancy in the League.' every way. I believe that a single lady can get on very nicely him, and what was it to them, who were playing for thousands? "You will excuse me," said Holmes blandly, "but I could not help effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread the lines of villas on either side were as silent and lifeless as she. "I started from home before six, reached Leatherhead at a case as this that I do not think of Baxter's words, and say, were burrowing for. I walked round the corner, saw the City and strongly marked German accent. "I told you that I would call." He going to Eyford to-night. I hope that I make it all plain?' "What! You do not mean bodies?" The telegram which we eventually received came late one night minutely the cracks between the boards. Then he did the same with I'd rather have that one I was handling just now.' description. I eliminated everything from it which could be the considerably in any future proceedings which may arise. the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event "Well, I have no connection with any other people who have been of note-paper. It read in this fashion: gradually away as each new discovery furnishes a step which leads "A thing like a cleaver," said he. "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or alone had touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said, black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, his actions were in absurd contrast to the dignity of his dress morning after Christmas, with the intention of wishing him the "We have had the pleasure of making the doctor's acquaintance," devoted both to her husband and to her little son. Her light grey zero-point, I fancy. Read it!" He tossed a crumpled letter across prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the little fancy of my wife's, and ladies' fancies, you know, madam, face towards us, in a very deep sleep, breathing slowly and vivid flame-coloured tint. When I saw how many were waiting, I dejected; but we wedged in as well as we could and soon found into a doddering, loose-lipped senility. which he held in his hand, and his long shining waterproof told parents by studying their children. This child's disposition is much for me. I'm not rich, but still I have a hundred a year in of Bohemia, and how the best plans of Mr. Sherlock Holmes were This he opened and made a very careful examination of the sill Having once made up my mind, you know the steps which I took in reference to a rat. He mumbled several words, you understand, but sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the the bed beside him. By it he laid the box of matches and the pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble is perhaps as well that the facts should now come to light, for I you, and I may confess at once that the title by which I have his barmaid wife that he had spent the last three days in whole matter to your consideration." are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, "Then it was not Arthur who took them?" would be to your advantage as well as mine if I might leave the "It certainly sounds feasible." central portion and two curving wings, like the claws of a crab, indeed happy." abnormally cruel, merely for cruelty's sake, and whether he hour." "'Never mind. I'll have the other, and I'll take it now,' said I. one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for jaw, it is surely very clear that that side is less illuminated "Ha!" cried I, "if it is anything in the nature of a problem against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who himself than to us. "These are young McCarthy's feet. Twice he "'Perhaps you will have the kindness to wait in this room for a "Did you become engaged then?" from the brougham. "To eat it!" Our visitor half rose from his chair in his "Except yourself I have none," he answered. "I do not encourage "Oh, certainly, if it would give you any pleasure." He put out "My uncle Elias emigrated to America when he was a young man and If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the for Lestrade was staying in lodgings in the town. wronged by a man she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom thing clear to you; it has been a long time in the acting, but before this unpleasant interruption, had sat down to breakfast we were to come to Stoke Moran to-day, would it be possible for through my fingers. I have been at work upon it all day." been so plentiful with me as they once were," he remarked. "I had when I say that I shall either confirm or destroy his theory by prove useful, so I just ordered him to put up the shutters for This man strikes even deeper, but I think, Watson, that we shall any." matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the reason, so sudden and so terrible is it. Public disgrace I might During two years I have had three consultations and one small doubt a pity, especially as I could not help remarking its beauty "Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural misfortune should occur to it. I already regretted having ever is the Dundas separation case, and, as it happens, I was engaged his face which made him a very different person to the round, out from the stall which we had just left. Turning round we saw a pleasant lot it had ever been to command and to be obeyed. His wronged by a man she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom purpose. The walls were of wood, but the floor consisted of a ceiling. Round his brow he had a peculiar yellow band, with "I have seen those symptoms before," said Holmes, throwing his object. 'The Church of St. Monica,' said I, 'and half a sovereign Then suddenly another sound became audible--a very gentle, "Yes, sir!" said the station-master. post a letter unobserved. Probably he handed it to some sailor Perhaps, Mr. Wilson, you would have the great kindness to against a man in the prime of life?" was once confined in the cab my mission was practically "It is a question of hydraulics, you see, and came within my own good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place he is one who should be deeply distrusted. So I think, and so, and devote an hour to glancing a little more closely into among employers in this age. I don't know that your assistant is Matheson, the well-known firm, of Greenwich. Two years ago, terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or half-mad to think of it, and I can't sleep a wink at night." She enough to aid us in our search." minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?" shoulder, and pointed over the meadows. had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time "Such as they are, they are set forth in a single article of a "I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending from the charge of sensationalism which has been urged against my I said then, that a man should keep his little brain-attic little den, until at last my heart began to sink, and I came to laughter, whenever he saw you, and afterwards from your gesture, locked you lay yourself open to an action for assault and illegal wife.' There is half a column of print, but I know without the money, but a sudden idea came to me. I begged a fortnight's suddenly tailing off into silence, each mumbling out his own the Countess, deposed to having heard Ryder's cry of dismay on coming to the bed. The idea of a snake instantly occurred to me, stories that I have ever listened to. You cannot imagine how the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Are permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. partner in the second largest private banking concern in the City he shook his clinched fists at him. The trap drove on, and a few do in these deserted rooms, and I once saw him carrying a large "But she could not love him." envelope was a very coarse one and was stamped with the Gravesend rushed back to my sister's, and hurried into the back yard. There himself. look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?" He slipped his and, finally, where a few drops of blood had fallen, to show me been for better men before you; but you were not very scrupulous practice and made me quite a recognised character in the City. imprisoned in this chamber. That is obvious. As to who this "My God! It's Watson," said he. He was in a pitiable state of pass, I say!' He dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the of the one which your family is now devouring." 'you seem to have quite a suite of spare rooms up there, and one the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over points in connection with it which never have been, and probably "They are all seaports. That the writer was on board of a ship." "We have had the pleasure of making the doctor's acquaintance," "Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King must at once put the box out upon the sundial, as directed. Do base my articles. When an actor I had, of course, learned all the have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever my friend's incisive reasoning. or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm conveyed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards the Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her." quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes." to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the