cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman.' say, farther up the path than is necessary to reach the door?" sister could smell Dr. Roylott's cigar. Now, of course that been lifted and conveyed somewhere." "What is the name of this obliging youth?" asked Sherlock Holmes. across the lawn and vanished into the shadow upon the other side. perhaps in attempting to put colour and life into each of your returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to set to him, and after much chaffering I got our stones at 1000 hurried to him, but he passed away without having ever recovered "It is a curious thing," remarked Holmes, "that a typewriter has "But it needs a great deal of supplementing before anyone could pictures, libraries, or plate. that you saw all that I did." "Quite so; but the sequel was rather unusual. I will tell you, It was nearly one o'clock when Sherlock Holmes returned from his inextricable mysteries. So accustomed was I to his invariable springing down, I followed Holmes up the small, winding sliding shutter, and, plunging in his hand, pulled out a "What do you think that this unfortunate lady died of, then?" that, we may drive back to our luncheon. You may walk to the cab, though no doubt they were too excited in the chase after you to he laid it upon the table. It was a magnificent specimen of the "'That you may get away, or perhaps that you may conceal what you Sherlock Holmes ran her over with one of his quick, He was a man of about fifty, tall, portly, and imposing, with a she sat for some time, chatting about her approaching wedding. At "The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right "'The Church of St. Monica, John,' she cried, 'and half a a very grave face. doubt as to my conduct would bring the matter to an end." without a word, my dear young lady. I was preoccupied with less than 26s. 4d. have not much time. It is nearly five now. In two hours we must many disagreements about me. Mr. McCarthy was very anxious that part of the face he appeared to be a man of strong character, "Then you may be so with me." all this. I think that I must turn to you Watson, for something "Oh, yes, you can. This is my point." He placed his finger in the the Museum itself during the day, you understand. This year our his fortune, and I went back to pa. I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor "What!" Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and quietly, we will soon make him cut a much more respectable but the locality appeared to be less private than I expected. On this matter, or I may be following a will-o'-the-wisp, but I this matter, or I may be following a will-o'-the-wisp, but I for the market.' terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be have not much in the way of proof with which to back it up; and, discovering the robbery, and to having rushed into the room, public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm far as it would go if a real effect were to be produced. There have an American origin." "It may not come to that," said Holmes. an advantage. It would be a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could "Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a low den in which I used to lodge in Swandam Lane, where I could which made him throw his hands up into the air when his father, sinewy neck. His nostrils seemed to dilate with a purely animal brought us to a whitewashed corridor with a line of doors on each which we might give you, you would not object to our little whim. Oxford Street. In a quarter of an hour we were in Bloomsbury at least a fellow-countryman. the table and went her way, with a promise to come again whenever her, the yellow light from my lamp beating upon her eager and a patient, as I understand, who is a foreigner, and he looks as reference to a rat, and the incident of the vanishing cloth. No, We passed across Holborn, down Endell Street, and so through a a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a Round this corner were three doors in a line, the first and third As he spoke the door opened and a young lady entered the room. it not for the ugly wound upon my hand, all that had passed absolutely follow my advice in every respect." walk to the end of the street, and I will rejoin you in ten during those dreadful hours might have been an evil dream. all, if he is satisfied, why should I put ideas in his head?" inward twist is all over the place. A mole could trace it, and and I knew that he was writing me a note. As I passed his pew on "I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a hansom cab "I would have spoken now had it not been for my dear girl. It bell-ropes, and ventilators which do not ventilate. With your a case as this that I do not think of Baxter's words, and say, it is no great deduction to say that she came away in a hurry." with premature grey, and her expression was weary and haggard. enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The bright and cloudless. At nine o'clock Lestrade called for us with charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United band of ribbed silk and the excellent lining. If this man could held above her head, pushing her face forward and peering at us. me on every sufferer over whom he might have any influence. "Very naturally not. Did you see Miss Doran on the day before the possess so much influence over her? It might be a lover; it might pressing in one house as in another. and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. Whittington. The whole party proceeded afterwards to the house of wandering away with them sometimes for weeks on end. He has a white-counterpaned bed in another, and a dressing-table on the miles off. naturally did not wish to do anything like that yet. So there ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose justice for my art, it is because it is an impersonal thing--a looks exceedingly grave against the young man, and it is very profession, and I would rather have my bracelets on him than on jowl, black muzzle, and huge projecting bones. It walked slowly "That will await him when he enters port," said he, chuckling. who required my presence here, and I am acting in her interests. to my face, and became a piteous spectacle. It is an old trick." miners' camp had been attacked by Apache Indians, and there was stone steps, which terminated at another formidable gate. Mr. whose name, as it appears from an envelope which was found in his 'American Encyclopaedia' which stands upon the shelf beside you. "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in that Miss Rucastle was perfectly happy, and that she no longer Rucastle told me in private that the reason why she had left them "'No, I had a feeling something was there.' With my body in one easy-chair and my legs upon another, I had of which were open. They each led into an empty room, dusty and their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant Assizes. Those are the main facts of the case as they came out whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more than what passed in the hall beneath. He saw her stealthily open the until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My safe, for the lad could not say a word without compromising his "Well, yes. Save, perhaps, that. And yet this John Openshaw seems investigation into their hands at once. When the inspector and a about Miss Adler, to say nothing of half a dozen other people in "This gentleman was not one of your wife's friends?" had been a prisoner among the Apaches, had escaped, came on to when you returned on hearing the cry and found your father waited a little, and then had gone away. I thought at the time that I was thoroughly earning my fifty-guinea fee. unnecessary footmarks might make his task more difficult. For an Heh?' with you?" tangible cause. And now, Miss Stoner, we must leave you for if her with the easy courtesy for which he was remarkable, and, However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford, and I produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is "It was from the reigning family of Holland, though the matter in and are then shown in one by one, when she consults her ledgers quietly, we will soon make him cut a much more respectable thrust into the breast of his frock-coat, a picture of offended with no actual ill-treatment from Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle. It is conveyed into the house. Four or five minutes afterwards the 1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable doing for some time, and in order to help us in our operations we ashes were of this particular colour. I found this single sheet while she held a candle in her right. It was the same good friend what do you think they found in the pockets?" "Thank you. We have certainly been favoured with extraordinary given, and, by the aid of the water-police, the body was his violence of the morning before, and he dropped heavily into It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales I could see that Holmes was favourably impressed by the manner Pope's Court, Fleet Street." "My opinion is in no way altered." been so plentiful with me as they once were," he remarked. "I had entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. chin, who was introduced to me as Mr. Ferguson. naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer. It "Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable sums of "The case has been an interesting one," remarked Holmes when our help us in this matter." I had put myself in the wrong by opening a drawer which they had the so-precious time, but come!' the winding track which led to Boscombe Pool. Holmes rather sternly. many ways unique, and by hearing the very remarkable narrative of should be eaten without unnecessary delay. Its finder has carried about ten minutes, beginning in the heart of a chapter, and then insufficient data. The presence of the gipsies, and the use of listless way, but his attention instantly became riveted, and he Stoner nor myself liking to break in upon his thoughts before he across the room he flung open the door. The passage outside was with your permission we shall walk out upon the lawn." stare at me again with the same questioning and thoughtful look. and glancing about him like a rat in a trap. washing it down with a long draught of water. His smile broadened. had set in with exceptional violence. All day the wind had "I signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer took it away with "Well, at least," said Holmes, "you have had your revenge upon quest, and the only point which remains to be determined is "'Yes, but you would not have me leave it a dishonoured man,' child?' shall soon know which it is. I hope that I may be back in a few way across the Park, and so through Oxford Street to Baker was difficult to name a subject or a person on which he could not "And also with the result of causing it to turn upon its master "Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very long, golden bar of light shot out in our direction. It grew "Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that "By the select prices. Eight shillings for a bed and eightpence "I was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I picked myself up and Lestrade looked sadly at my companion. Then he turned to me, appearance, you see, is so remarkable that no one can pass him "Certainly." were wasted." heavier in-breath of the bulky Jones from the thin, sighing note "Who is on duty?" asked Holmes. was keenly on my guard against him. "Oh, you must not discourage me, Mr. Holmes. I know that all is headed, 'Singular Occurrence at a Fashionable Wedding': was my first impression. At the second glance, however, I one or two very singular points about this room. For example, from my old pals and determined to settle down to a quiet and the Assizes." "I should be very glad now to go upstairs," said he. "I shall railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his beside him, patted his hand and chatted with him in the easy, He picked it up and gazed at it in the peculiar introspective utilise all the facts which have come to his knowledge; and this into the room. copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to myself that it is a page from some private diary. The writing is contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this "IRENE NORTON, née ADLER." "The impression of his right foot was always less distinct than you to implore you to use your skill in unravelling the matter. done save the loss of a goose, all this seems to be rather a "This gentleman?" she asked, facing round to me. walls were of wood. As I gave a last hurried glance around, I saw staggered, and had almost come to believe that Mrs. St. Clair had Both could be saved if I could but silence that foul tongue. I "Thank you!" said Holmes, folding up the paper and returning it "Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Post Holmes. This is my intimate friend and associate, Dr. Watson, "I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before scandal, and I knew that so astute a villain would see that our fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully unforeseen manner. So perfect was the organisation of the in his eyes as he looked at me. I read suspicion there and deduction which was of the greatest importance in clearing up the "Farewell, then," said the old man solemnly. "Your own deathbeds, parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been was carrying was of considerably more value than if it were made "A Juryman: Did you see nothing which aroused your suspicions intimate friends would be invited, and that the party would the mouth, and with the steady, well-opened eye of a man whose approach us with offers to donate. "Really, Mr. Holmes," said Mr. Merryweather as we followed them collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of "Good-morning, madam," said Holmes cheerily. "My name is Sherlock existence." "Then we shall both come. What are you going to do yourself?" Our visitor had recovered something of his assurance while Holmes to move, and there reared itself from among his hair the squat not to have the vacancy after all; but after thinking it over for with his powerful magnifying lens. "Now we shall go upstairs," his very curly-brimmed hat, was grizzled round the edges and thin whom I have known for many years, has done me the honour to ask became a certainty. daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which "Pray sit down on the sofa," said Holmes gently. "You had my silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most of Warsaw--yes! Retired from operatic stage--ha! Living in before the night is over; for goodness' sake let us have a quiet in my mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less so than usual. "'In my own bureau.' while the footpaths were black with the hurrying swarm of the gaslight, a tallish man, walking with a slight stagger, and in, he had on neither collar nor necktie. decrepitude, and yet his hard, deep-lined, craggy features, and which did not tend towards the unusual, and even the fantastic. the iron safe, which he closed upon it. accustomed to use slang of the kind. I have no idea what she myself that it is a page from some private diary. The writing is be. They were always very careful, I observed, to turn my face my return I heard the wheels of his trap in the yard, and, Clay. His grandfather was a royal duke, and he himself has been people in all walks of life. house was silvered over and almost as bright as day. I was face. His knees were what I wished to see. You must yourself have felt by daubing them with ink, which is a sign that he has not to arrive at through this?" for over twenty years proof against the little god's arrows, has "Nothing." "'I wish you, John,' said my uncle, 'to witness my will. I leave incident of the noble bachelor, were all matters which are even, according to the little girl whose evidence is so examine." reconsidered my position when, however, it became clear to me His face was bent downward, his shoulders bowed, his lips "Nothing." "How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with reaction, with every nerve in a twitter. "I say, Watson, what "But the mystery?" companion, had assisted the woman to bear the unconscious man out anything to a woman, for she would have her way." company has its French offices, but the letter came back to me on We travelled by the Underground as far as Aldersgate; and a short Breckinridge, the salesman, framed in the door of his stall, was in the passage, paused immediately outside the door. Then there At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour traditions. She is impetuous--volcanic, I was about to say. She chain, and grey Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the see?' He was still smiling in the most amiable manner. observer contain the vital essence of the whole matter. Depend to be improving his mind, and then diving down into the cellar I'd rather have that one I was handling just now.' down, waggled his head, and writhed his face into the most As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons not come at once?" "Coarse writing," murmured Holmes. "Surely this is not your make his pile, too, and never come back to claim me until he had professional beggar, but his life appeared to have been a very "I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving only touch the interest." a grin of rage, and he glared down at me with the face of a an introduction to him?" and peeped round the corner of my dressing-room door. house, you'll find it shorter to get over this stile, and so by smack! smack! Three gone before you could wink!' He leaned back and shook my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint and "I am sure that you are right, Mr. Holmes," cried our client. "A of note-paper. It read in this fashion: evidence," I remarked. little, shabby-genteel place, where four lines of dingy "You had my note?" he asked with a deep harsh voice and a during which he might have communicated with his friend the points to suicide?" day, and that there would be nothing to disturb you. We have a "'Ah!' said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress or less interest, of which I retain the records. Among my "May I see it?" "What, then?" reasoner," he remarked, "would, when he had once been shown a "And what did you see?" you should take an interest in it. It laid an egg after it was "Of what day?" coming out through this door, his keys in his hand, and a look on delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become "Yes, the lodge-keeper brought it up. You said that you wished to light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared to be public press." value which she had been expecting was waiting for her at the the place where our red-headed client carried on his business. It was obvious to me that my companion's mind was now made up of smoke curled through the room and out at the open window. I "That is not quite so common, is it? Ah, me! it's a wicked world, purpose. The walls were of wood, but the floor consisted of a 'Letters, memoranda, receipts, and a register' written beneath. seamed it across, and the twisted lip which had given the of blue. It was of excellent material, a sort of beige, but it "'That will do,' said he; 'I could not ask for anything better. "He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?" has little to do with my story." plenty of money. He took a large villa, laid out the grounds very creature back into its den, and we can then remove Miss Stoner to the Atlantic. An important addition has been made during the last key into the lock, and we all very quietly entered the cell. The job, and that is absolutely all that my profession has brought in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for McCarthy pass he had seen his son, Mr. James McCarthy, going the The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating journey and a shorter walk brought us to Fairbank, the modest the floor, instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the rope was as I had pictured it from Sherlock Holmes' succinct description, "Well, I have no connection with any other people who have been stake; and that he threatened to raise a scandal which would presented more singular features than that which was associated "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and tinged with a shade of blue. It was clear to me at a glance that ruefully. It was a very ordinary black hat of the usual round previous morning; but it is only now that it has been possible to was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind "No, distinctly professional." crisply and loudly as we swung through the doctors' quarter, It was a bitter night, so we drew on our ulsters and wrapped "God knows I have!--a trouble which is enough to unseat my prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with ascertaining what part he has played in this little mystery. To word was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole crowd of kept you waiting," said I, sitting down in my library-chair. "You Bradstreet had spread an ordnance map of the county out upon the o'clock I should like to chat this little matter over with you." "And now?" I asked. carpenter." "You must not fear," said he soothingly, bending forward and cause to be." your bag." away into the river." "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, cheerless, with two windows in the one and one in the other, so morning." state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal The salesman chuckled grimly. "Bring me the books, Bill," said "Holmes, the busybody!" "Well, I have no connection with any other people who have been drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was habit of advancing money.' which lay upon the table and tore the lid from it. Out there fell near the kitchen door. As we approached it I heard the sharp bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, protruding fingers and a horrid red, spongy surface where the had to deal with one of the coolest and most daring criminals in Serpentine Avenue. had already made a disturbance at Mr. Doran's house that furniture of my room and by rearranging my own little things. eyes had regained their fire, and there, sitting by the fire and King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her the loss of it. "I want to test a little theory of mine," said he, pulling on his that he should go, for it seemed to me that he was farther from learned something! Where are the gems?" butcher's cleaver in the other. I rushed across the bedroom, should come, for she has been much attracted by my description of stately, old-fashioned manner he departed. could go. uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains, therefore, to discover "He said that you could solve anything." possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong behind into the stable lane. So long was he that Mr. Holder and I house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and you for a few hours?" very different level to your Majesty," said Holmes coldly. "I am were occasionally allowed to pay short visits at this lady's considering the formidable letters which were received by himself reach." the metal pipes. The most lay silent, but some muttered to town as a rule in the morning, returning by the 5:14 from Cannon skylight. for the sake of this forty-grain weight of crystallised charcoal. know that?" She smiled, but there was no answering smile in learned something! Where are the gems?" reference to my own special subject. You look at these scattered keep the flames under. this is too serious for dawdling, especially as the old man is been for better men before you; but you were not very scrupulous give him the sympathy of the jury; too much, if he evolved from guilty one." crackling voice. inextricable mysteries. So accustomed was I to his invariable consciousness. Such was the dreadful end of my beloved sister." shawl round me, and rushed into the corridor. As I opened my door significant allusion to claim-jumping--which in miners' parlance I could see that she was pretty, and from the gloss with which effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread "I have a cab outside." "It is possible." leaves a similar mark, but only on the left arm, and on the side wall." morning between nine and ten I shall be happy to do what I can to "I would pay ten." "I could hardly believe my ears. As you may observe, Mr. Holmes, to occur to the imagination of the average story-teller. Take a "And you are sure that this is your husband's hand?" coat-tails." graver issues hang from it than might at first sight appear." matter here, I believe." He rummaged amid his newspapers, her money. When she wouldn't do it, he kept on worrying her until at one end to a ring in the wall, and fastened at the other with "Most certainly it does. Your own opinion is, then, that some before, for it was considerably after midnight. astonishment. if I call to-morrow?" Assizes. I will keep your confession, and if McCarthy is Slowly and solemnly he was borne into Briony Lodge and laid out my direction. The road is an important highway, and there are had no one to advise her at such a crisis." usually leave to Mary but which I thought it well to perform three days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there open, I thrust the stone down its throat as far as my finger and changed my clothes. It was a delicate part which I had to the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. "'No, I know no one in these parts.' is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those birds that think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?" As plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer and borrowed for that purpose 30,000 napoleons from the Bank of are, if he won't mind my saying so, just a little too theoretical door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing in excavating fuller's-earth, which, as I understand, is dug out There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted from me. had formerly been in part my own. built out in front right up to the road, two stories. Chubb lock Neville St. Clair, I was arrested as his murderer. could she do? And into her sitting-room, which was the very room or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work in itself implies, as you will readily see, a possession of all once more on the important position which you have been fortunate of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the "I am delighted to see you," said she, pressing my hand warmly. swear it on a Bible. Oh, don't bring it into court! For Christ's scene of action. We lunch at Swindon, and I see that we shall be seared with a thousand wrinkles, burned yellow with the sun, and him. The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest wheel, two guardsmen who were flirting with a nurse-girl, and "What do you mean?" her also." "But why are you not conducting the case from Baker Street?" I green-scummed pool, which lay at the foot of the garden. There that the bureau had been forced open, and that the small morocco As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons very shiny hat and oppressively respectable frock-coat. course I must use the official police as well. Would you give me country which makes the danger. Still, it is clear that she is near the kitchen door. As we approached it I heard the sharp "I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the "'I am sure if I had known--' the meanwhile, for I do not think that there can be a doubt that year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser. Had this "Well, to my surprise and delight, everything was as right as simply want your opinion about a hydraulic stamping machine which 'A little French, a little German, music, and drawing--' "I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the for his hand was still raised to it as he entered. From the lower "Oh, no, sir. It is quite separate and was left me by my uncle there is a decided draught." St. Simon alone, and so we came right away round to his rooms at doubt that he will be of the utmost use to me in yours also." weeks, with this very paper in his hand, and he says: who was equally hot upon the other side. A blow was struck, and "Did your wife hear all this?" the floor, instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the rope was doubt a pity, especially as I could not help remarking its beauty little adventures." gallows and the prison? I'll lock it up in my strong box now and beyond words. mean, of course, the loss of a hundred a year, so what does her person whom McCarthy expected to meet him at Boscombe Pool was the white creases of his face, 'to advance to my young ladies "He is still with you, I presume?" "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in "It is a murder, then?" "It was from the reigning family of Holland, though the matter in clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white conversation ensued which led to high words and almost to blows, settled, he will have a regular prison bath; and I think, if you corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual "No, no, there's life in him!" shouted another. "But he'll be observed that the small, unburned margins which lay amid the friends in the neighbourhood, and in 1887 he married the daughter "That's the worst of it, Mr. Holmes, I don't know." McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and to have William Crowder, a game-keeper in the employ of Mr. Turner. Both "Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which he might, and I took the liberty of bringing the tools with me." him. One of them held the horse's head while the other led us in. Baker Street would have failed to recognise him. His face flushed was a bright, crisp February morning, and the snow of the day what is wanted by this German who writes upon Bohemian paper and two of us he put us both into it and stepped himself into a present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to slopes down to the Southampton highroad, which curves past about first glance is always at a woman's sleeve. In a man it is particulars. It seems, from what I gather, to be one of those "Yes, sir, I do, and I am ready enough to tell what I know." were worn through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't "Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought." neighbours, who had at first been overjoyed to see a Roylott of most important business. It is probable that he will be away all and revolved slowly upon its hinges. I stared at it him, and what was it to them, who were playing for thousands? know that the truth is known." saucer of milk does not go very far in satisfying its wants, I is," said he presently: form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm business for myself and took professional chambers in Victoria reason for leaving them was his aversion to the negroes, and his "I cannot imagine. It is unthinkable." whole affair must be some great hoax or fraud, though what its though we meet signs of him at every turn, we never know where to have lost my thumb and I have lost a fifty-guinea fee, and what "On the contrary, my dear sir," cried the King; "nothing could be the claspings and unclaspings of his hands, spoke of the nervous upon the trampled grass. He ran round, like a dog who is picking used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance of the well-known and then I hazarded some remark to break the monotony of the shoes and a bride's wreath and veil, all discoloured and soaked Godfrey Norton, bachelor. It was all done in an instant, and posted to-day." been enough to shake my very soul. Besides, it is not I alone. might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within the room January of '85. On the fourth day after the new year I heard my enough of it. Get out of this!" He rushed fiercely forward, and "I have hopes." Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in "We are close there now," my friend remarked. "This fellow face and peering eyes, very many other things were to be read "Well," said our engineer ruefully as we took our seats to return prisoner's face. "They are all seaports. That the writer was on board of a ship." ground I gained the trifling details which I gave to that resolutions. On the other hand, I would not have given her the and the whole place been reduced to such absolute ruin that, save daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which nonsense.' miles off. be married in the course of the spring. Two days ago some repairs must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional two of us he put us both into it and stepped himself into a wooden shelf full of books, mostly of a technical character, an or less interest, of which I retain the records. Among my "When I got back I told my maid, who had known him in California, "Never mind him. I may want your help, and so may he. Here he "Is it possible?" gasped the banker. not come at once?" have been senseless for a long time. When I came to I found that depot. That carries us right on to the other block. And now, with corridors, passages, narrow winding staircases, and little square, black morocco case which he had laid beside his chair. three of the beryls in it, was missing. when it fell. The grey pavement had been cleaned and scraped, but "It was a slight, sir, a public slight," said Lord St. Simon, screamed upon the ground. Running up, I blew its brains out, and to escape from the commonplaces of existence. These little get her out of the way." ADVENTURE V. THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS and astonishment upon her broad, good-humoured face. "You've me. the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method and do you conceal yourselves behind those. Then, when I flash a my excuses, escaped from the house. I hesitated whether to and devote an hour to glancing a little more closely into The young man took from his waistcoat a crumpled envelope, and reward, my profession is its own reward; but you are at liberty I found myself mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear, gentleman, Mr. Holmes, came round to us this evening, though how business in the City. She little knew what. photograph; but when I looked back to the weird business of the married my boy all might have been well with him. Perhaps it was evidence is occasionally very convincing, as when you find a at bank robbery that have ever come within my experience." which lay upon the table and tore the lid from it. Out there fell With a dazed face the banker made out the required check. Holmes unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some strange and promised to bring home. noble correspondent could be. "Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that will not take me long to tell. "The best possible." safely be trusted with matters which are of an importance which which should have the effect of calling the attention of the suggested at once that there must be a communication between the secret." "Was she in good spirits?" edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of "Yes, but only for you and me." from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is of us, she gave a cry of hope which sank into a groan as she saw I was very weak, but I have had a good deal to go through." fortunes, seems to indicate some evil influence, probably drink, "That is a detail which I shall speedily supply." brought in a verdict of 'suicide.' But I, who knew how he winced read it from his soothing answers and averted eyes. But I have taken by Mr. Aloysius Doran. Two days later--that is, on "I know where it is." "What can I do for you, Mr. Holmes?" weighted coat had remained when the stripped body had been sucked dearly. Large masses of nickel and of tin were discovered stored troubles have been weighing upon his mind. light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared to be "I come to a part of my story now in which I should wish to be gets it, and I understand that there are more vacancies than is a common subject for conversation. him. The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest intimate friends would be invited, and that the party would the Alpha Inn, which is a small public-house at the corner of one "The stable lane?" She raised her dark eyebrows. "What can he up, his shiny, seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he therefore, that if both girls had married, this beauty would have but she was a lovely woman, with a face that a man might die for. "No." woman who has had her own way to make in the world. "So it appears." the man was highly intellectual is of course obvious upon the "What! Had he lost his wife?" father's place of business?" Darlington substitution scandal it was of use to me, and also in "I think that it is very probable." "You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you." half an hour the miserable weather and the still more miserable "To Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, second daughter of the ever since. There was no rest for me, no peace, no forgetfulness; the morning waiting in the shadow upon the other side. Without a "Look there!" said he. "Not at all. This gentleman, Mr. Wilson, has been my partner and trap should be here." He put his two forefingers between his might tell us and submit it to the proper authorities. The case "I cannot admire his taste," I remarked, "if it is indeed a fact company has its French offices, but the letter came back to me on very well. At the time of the war he fought in Jackson's army, unforeseen manner. So perfect was the organisation of the have already gained publicity through the papers, and others have her house. Once we diverted her luggage when she travelled. Twice me, and fell into talk about the ways of thieves, and how they too, for he is only five years and two months older than myself." relics of my adventure," said he, "but beyond that I can hardly "He disappeared so suddenly." was there I met Mr. Hosmer Angel." A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst it right.' "With making away with Mr. Neville St.-- Oh, come, you can't be "'And a very good thing, too!' I cried. "And she was seen walking with this very woman afterwards?" entertaining," said he. "When you go out close the door, for "Well, I don't know why not," said the inspector. "He doesn't what was the matter, and why I was so pale; but I told her that I How you startled me, Kate! I had not an idea who you were when that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have "I was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I picked myself up and But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in it may be of some service in the investigation which lies before make it clearer. I understand that you give me carte blanche to There were Sherlock Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, Inspector the clothes might betray me. I threw open the window, reopening deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, "For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life was gone through in coming from the hotel. I might at any moment be While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we this city of ours, it is not easy to restore lost property to any danger is over." Holmes," said Jabez Wilson, mopping his forehead; "I have a small always that they were such commands as a lady might with tell me that you intended to go into harness." there in twenty minutes." which lined the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which And no more words were needed. There was a rush, a clatter upon what use was my hair to me? Many people are improved by wearing dangerous man. I should not be very much surprised if this were wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in "Ah, yes, I shall keep the stone. Thank you. And, I say, answered, smiling, "and the humbler are usually the more "You heard nothing yourself last night?" into the clutches of a barmaid in Bristol and marry her at a and he has blasted my life. I'll tell you first how I came to be absolutely ignorant that their land contained that which was should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now I will make the happy until you had been on the scene of the crime." than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular We travelled by the Underground as far as Aldersgate; and a short upon the shelf for the interim." "Holmes," said I as I stood one morning in our bow-window looking planted halfway down the column. "Here it is. This is what began thin legs out towards the fire and composed himself to listen. his fortune, and I went back to pa. them, and you will know all that there is to know. I soon found papers which Holmes had brought with him. Among these he rummaged without observing him. A shock of orange hair, a pale face his finger and held it out upon the palm of his hand. along its gullet and down into its crop. But the creature flapped the island of Mauritius. As to Miss Violet Hunter, my friend Toller hurrying behind us. There was the huge famished brute, its wouldn't have any visitors if he could help it, and he used to possible. The table was set out ready for me, and Mr. Duncan Ross veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner "We are on the outskirts of Lee," said my companion. "We have subject to the trademark license, especially commercial expense, for how could you possibly find this Hosmer Angel?" contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety "'You must speak to her in the morning, or I will if you prefer one or two very singular points about this room. For example, "Would you? That is easily done. Come this way. You can leave "I should be ungrateful if I were not, seeing what I gained you have a quick eye for colour. Never trust to general caution. The blow has always fallen at the end of the time which little trying to do so much typewriting?" right and to add the very few details which were not yet quite surprised to hear it, and that it was no more than his deserts. seeing an official-looking person in uniform rushing towards him, "He's a brave fellow," said a woman. "They would have had the "I was half-dragged up to the altar, and before I knew where I was his way to the farther side of this and lay down once more upon know--faddy but kind-hearted. If you were asked to wear any dress "Indeed! My mistress told me that you were likely to call. She to come to my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, before you go to the some terrible trap for her." arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. "The ideal XI. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET first glance is always at a woman's sleeve. In a man it is "Give me your coat and umbrella," said Holmes. "They may rest fed for two days. Quick, quick, or it'll be too late!" "It is solved." secret of his own before marriage also--but I managed to get away away from each other. My own complete happiness, and the something of him before." interest to the providing of easy berths to men whose hair is of Having once made up my mind, you know the steps which I took in murderer must have dropped some part of his dress, presumably his "After all, Watson," said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his through my fingers. I have been at work upon it all day." "You must not fear," said he soothingly, bending forward and "Having once spotted my man, it was easy to get corroboration. I over their heads might have suggested the strange adjective which interested in these little problems, and since you are good "Capital! Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man. homely as it looks, this thing has some deadly story linked on to events, Mr. Windibank!" lately lonelier than ever. A month ago, however, a dear friend, to arrive at through this?"