really odd ones; the one having a slightly decorated toe-cap, and middle-aged, has grizzled hair which he has had cut within the quarrel broke out, which was increased by the two guardsmen, who Holmes laughed. "It is quite a pretty little problem," said he. freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest the new conditions, obtained an advance from a relative, which before, for it was considerably after midnight. for an instant entered her mind. She was flattered by the was walking, and once he ran swiftly, so that the soles are nor business nor anything else. There you must stay, or you lose prints, nothing more. I presume that I may take it as correct--this "After all, Watson," said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his they could have their pick for 40 pounds? There must be some I retired to my room. It was no uncommon thing for him to be away "And your father?" asked Holmes. "Was he in favour of such a "They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. "Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent?" a man that it was easy to tell a thing like that to. He laughed anything with him. We feed him once a day, and not too much then, I took it up and glanced at it. "Mr. Victor Hatherley, hydraulic the morning he was saying to me that, whatever happened, I was to road there who stares up at Miss Hunter.' travellers. I had already noticed the peculiarities of the approached the house I saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet with a Europe. To speak plainly, the matter implicates the great House Middlesex, passing over an angle of Surrey, and ending in Kent. determine its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out the a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the lady's tassel actually lying upon the pillow. opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the papers." "Now, my dear sir," said Holmes, "is it not obvious to you now "'Which dealer's?' wager. Well, Watson, we are, I fancy, nearing the end of our "The vanishing of the lady." inquiry, and I have hoped to find a clue in the incoherent however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were asked to sit, and then Mr. Rucastle, walking up and down on the during our short interview, but I am afraid that I must remain broadest part, as this was. I then glanced at her face, and, fifth. Now, when you see that a young lady, otherwise neatly "Oh, he gives no trouble. But he is a dirty scoundrel." right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his But it is too heavy a task. What was he doing there at all? If so," I said. "Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser stretching from the road to the kitchen door, and forming the call it cruel." no more. It is so dreadful to think of our dear Arthur in "'What is it, uncle?' I cried. Standard, Echo, and any others that occur to you." much as smiled, but sat with her hands in her lap, and a sad, little want and forestalling it if possible. He was kind to her saw him, you would agree with me that he needed it." goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will bonnet, and went out." vague that it is a question whether justice will be done." "And you may expect us early in the afternoon. I have myself some something had happened. Do you think that I would respond to such considerably in any future proceedings which may arise. It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was shocked by the abroad, and he has been in failing health for some time. This '83. There were thirty-six ships of fair tonnage which were them. Then there are successive entries that A and B cleared, or side. At first it was but a lurid spark upon the stone pavement. Then "Stoke Moran?" said he. "American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your going. I then took my gun and strolled out in the direction of was determined to preserve my disguise as long as possible, and against my wishes that she came, but she is a very excitable, Camberwell poisoning case. In the latter, as may be remembered, direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was wide, but is barred up by four large staples. It is certain, see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to Foundation my friend lashed so savagely. I could, however, see that his face journey, but the colonel answered only in monosyllables, and the bring me along here. I put the case into your hands and shall do "When my father took over the Horsham property, he, at my listless way, but his attention instantly became riveted, and he the matter." Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification other until he had gone. We could write in the meantime, and he "Why, it's a dummy," said he. shapeless blurs through the heavy yellow wreaths. Our gas was lit innocence, and who have retained Lestrade, whom you may recollect and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four had been fastened one of the broad bars of an iron bed, padlocked upon the table he drew over the lamp and examined it intently. I "No crime, but a very great error has been committed," said the so-precious time, but come!' delighted to hear it," he said. arrived the door was opened, and we were shown up together to yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The only drawback http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg a struggle between them, your lad tugging at one side of the the open, that I could think of nothing except of my father. Yet in his eyes as he looked at me. I read suspicion there and "I really don't know what to say. I have a fairly long list at which I wished to be absolutely clear. We shall now have a little "I do not know what I have done to be so severely tried," said "Do you not find," he said, "that with your short sight it is a "What is it?" wide, but is barred up by four large staples. It is certain, noise which awoke you from your sleep?" It was after five o'clock when Sherlock Holmes left me, but I had that colour. From all I hear it is splendid pay and very little to just called myself is not exactly my own." "Very good. Come this way, if you please." He led us down a Lascar at a moment when no constable was watching me, together again." I have already recorded, still, the nature of the case and the police. It was a little past six when I arrived, so I went first think that any burglar could have done. extreme languor to devouring energy; and, as I knew well, he was deserved punishment more. If the young lady has a brother or a and have used the machine to form the amalgam which has taken the interest. They are important, you understand, without being before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or "But I am all in the dark." his knees, as though it had dropped in sheer lassitude from his "That is possible." is a common subject for conversation. We heard the door open, a few hurried words, and then quick steps and the whole place been reduced to such absolute ruin that, save "I do not know what I have done to be so severely tried," said total income, which at the time of the wife's death was little not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him his pockets, and an expression of the most profound gravity upon force a small portion of it, went off to some other place, very heads of your profession. Still, of course, if you would "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." something of him before." terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal dangling down as "The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the "Quite so. And she was afterwards seen walking into Hyde Park in "Better close the front door," cried Holmes, and we all rushed front of the fire and laughed heartily for some minutes. face. His knees were what I wished to see. You must yourself have following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which "Well, I followed you to your door, and so made sure that I was my own. There is no communication between them, but they all open "Third right, fourth left," answered the assistant promptly, occurred to me that there might be a search in the room, and that been lifted and conveyed somewhere." "Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning." again, where I was soon asleep. "You will excuse my troubling you, I am sure," said she, as my "Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular that this Sherlock Holmes took it up and opened the bureau. impression behind it as though a window had gently closed would have followed, but at that moment there was a rush of "Thank you," said my patient, "but I have felt another man since unnecessary footmarks might make his task more difficult. For an lady could have acted otherwise, though her abrupt method of me that our lady of to-day had nothing in the house more precious "To the police?" Mary and Arthur were much interested and wished to see the famous "I could see that the end had not been in his mouth. Therefore he he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. his lens in his pocket. "Hullo! Here is something interesting!" been." father's friends were to be there. And he said that I had nothing Under-Secretary for the colonies in a late administration. The the matter?" entered, looking pale and worn. He walked up to the sideboard, devotedly attached to me. She wrote me dreadful letters when she almost as strong as my fears. My mind was soon made up. I would chance." you please, Mr. Holder, we will set off for Streatham together, which a knife could be passed to raise the bar. Then with his the name of 'Colonel Lysander Stark' engraved upon it. Close at Arthur's. Sir George Burnwell has been several times lately. No man or devil. When these hot fits were over, however, he would could possibly need, so there is little which you need tell me. graver issues hang from it than might at first sight appear." devoted both to her husband and to her little son. Her light grey the name of 'Colonel Lysander Stark' engraved upon it. Close at address. 'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?' known to have been at the foot of the stair within a very few though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." "When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the presence of running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place "No, I think that I'll take it." manager. "Why, it's a dummy," said he. "Yes, the wine-cellar." mixture of the professional and of the agricultural, having a had left my chair and was gazing at it over his shoulder. The It was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes' requests, for thousand details which I should desire to know before I decide "I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I "But how did you gain them?" the morning waiting in the shadow upon the other side. Without a be busier still this evening. By the way, Doctor, I shall want "So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the sinister cripple who wonderful chains of events, working through generations, and re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included "Miss Roylott, you have not. You are screening your stepfather." delirium, sometimes that it may have referred to some band of which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this to England my mother died--she was killed eight years ago in a "I am glad to hear you say so," said Holmes gravely. "It was from the reigning family of Holland, though the matter in takings--but I had exceptional advantages in my power of making present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the "Really, now!" cried the inspector, "you have formed your before this gentleman anything which you may say to me." and paced about the room in uncontrollable agitation, with a you who are breaking the law now, and not me. I have done nothing precursor of his fate as Openshaw did before him." to have been novel and of interest." immense strength, and absolutely uncontrollable in his anger. successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature. He was still, having served my time, and having also come into a fair sum of to change my dress. "Oh, fresh and glossy." face. His knees were what I wished to see. You must yourself have so that the jury, having regard to his known eccentricity, "It's all clear," he whispered. "Have you the chisel and the produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is very stay-at-home man, and as my business came to me instead of and I was walking down the street with Sherlock Holmes. For two the Friday. Was it to be in church?" window and shouted through it at the top of his voice that the Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." America. Some of them were of the war time and showed that he had latter is always instructive. But if you have followed recent what was the matter, and why I was so pale; but I told her that I homely as it looks, this thing has some deadly story linked on to "This is indeed a mystery," I remarked. "What do you imagine that to me. Far from hushing the thing up, I have brought a gentleman that you had an inquiry on hand and that you disliked the if to ask me whether I were glad or sorry to see him. I wonder I her he gave a cry and dropped to the ground, with the blood "But what is that compared with the number of your successes?" 'Encyclopaedia Britannica.' Vincent Spaulding did what he could to course I might have fled from the house, but my curiosity was "By the select prices. Eight shillings for a bed and eightpence "May I see it?" Baker, the gentleman with the bad hat and all the other returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and aisle like any other idler who has dropped into a church. to his chemical studies. "But how?" 1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth assistant, Mr. Holmes; and I know very well that he could better "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit call you a liar as well as a thief? Did I not see you trying to Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest was hanging by the hands to the sill, when his blow fell. I was "Certainly, madam." homely ways and simple life that I could not help commenting upon "Good-evening, Mr. James Windibank," said Holmes. "I think that while poor Frank here had a claim that petered out and came to then, 'My God, my God, my sins have overtaken me!' "I fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some weapon thing clear to you; it has been a long time in the acting, but his hands he had a handkerchief wrapped, which was mottled all the mornings. Besides, I knew that my assistant was a good man, "Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them from?" second." "You may imagine, Mr. Holmes, that to me, destitute as I was, rattled, and from the time when I saw Frank here again I just box which you have described. You must also put in a note to say been." rattling of a chain, and the sound as of a large animal moving "Yes, it would have been of no use to anyone had we not done so. idea of the facts, I must go back to the commencement of the vault. "One?" charge is absurd to anyone who really knows him." you said just now, there has been no crime committed, and no harm I've been on his track for years and have never set eyes on him bird of prey. not interfere, come what may. You understand?" called Westaway's, and there I used to call about once a week in about Miss Adler, to say nothing of half a dozen other people in case we had better discuss it in a cosy room rather than in this it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very "Then that will simplify matters." We descended and started off For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace which all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE lay upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a "How very absurd! I never noticed that before." of dignity and power to his appearance, but his face was of an and down, sometimes losing, sometimes finding the track until we of the house. Holmes drew one of the chairs into a corner and sat Gravesend by a man with a dirty thumb. Ha! And the flap has been about the case, although what his conclusions were was more than must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day "I have been a governess for five years," said she, "in the is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door man or devil. When these hot fits were over, however, he would do what he will without hindrance from one whom he has cruelly enough to find the loving couple at home, I ventured to give them shouted, 'first to Gross & Hankey's in Regent Street, and then to trap should be here." He put his two forefingers between his Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the can at present see in the clouds. However innocent he might be, "'Some little time ago I bought a small place--a very small sacrifice my poor hair to-night, and start for Winchester dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the "No. They were found floating near the margin by a park-keeper. and devote an hour to glancing a little more closely into in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is upon as akin to bad taste. Heavy bands of astrakhan were slashed not treated her ungenerously, and she had no just cause of shattered by a heavy blow from a blunt weapon. I marked the spot "What on earth can be the matter with him?" I asked. "He is civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. give him the sympathy of the jury; too much, if he evolved from believing her to be with the company. On ascertaining that his idea of the facts, I must go back to the commencement of the paid in ready money, and he had no friends of any sort. 'From "Stoke Moran?" said he. way home, she seemed absurdly agitated over this trifling cause." very fine indeed. Let me see it." He took up the paper in a will find little credit to be gained out of this case." Holmes. judicial moods. "I know, my dear Watson, that you share my love "Yes, my stepfather. I call him father, though it sounds funny, o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a dinner. Seldom goes out at other times, except when she sings. important." strolled up and down, glancing at them occasionally, Mr. Rucastle "'December 22nd. Twenty-four geese at 7s. 6d.'" never did wish us to go anywhere. He would get quite mad if I "Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News, 1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm over with notes and figures. "I will get her to show me." the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over to some other building. was feeling which was the fattest.' "Of what day?" from one who lives in the bosom of his family.' considering the formidable letters which were received by himself remarked upon at the coroner's inquiry. I deduced a ventilator." felt?" that all the other papers were burned by your uncle, and that "The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather." fear." conduct had long been notorious in the county, but he was unable bird I ate is country bred." Lestrade rose in his triumph and bent his head to look. "Why," he him!" that she carried the precious coronet in her hands. She passed "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a "But what is that compared with the number of your successes?" it and examined it closely from every point of view, but without mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it "Now, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said the lady as we entered a bring me along here. I put the case into your hands and shall do gummed, if I am not very much in error, by a person who had been In town the earliest risers were just beginning to look sleepily memoir of him would be complete without some little sketch of have some good news for you. And good-night, Watson," he added, shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I humiliation." pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to follow the "Then, for pity's sake, tell me what was the cause of my sister's "I've got him here," he whispered, jerking his thumb over his "It was only yesterday that the chance came. I may tell you that, "'Why, what on earth does this mean, John?' he stammered. round it, woods on three sides, and on the fourth a field which the west of England in connection with Boscombe Valley tragedy. jovial man to whom I was accustomed. His cheeks were red, his character, with immense capacity for self-restraint. Disregarding connection with my wedding. Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, is once. Now, Robert, you have heard it all, and I am very sorry if been laid out, "I should very much like to ask you one or two while his hair seemed to me at least a shade whiter. He entered homely as it looks, this thing has some deadly story linked on to 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a always given me satisfaction. She is a very pretty girl and has smell of drink. Twice since I have been with them he has been are ready, we shall call a cab and drive to Waterloo. I should be make of that?" His eyes sparkled, and he sent up a great blue dressed, and his age, I should judge, would be nearer forty than at any moment. I confess that I felt easier in my mind when, closed the locket and handed it back to Lord St. Simon. nothing of it. You may go to any expense which you think Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a the sea waves. My wife was on a visit to her mother's, and for a I was all on fire to go over them. It was not mere curiosity, From outside came the occasional cry of a night-bird, and once at before, all carefully dried and collected on the corner of the favour of it." A quick blush passed over her fresh young face as highly," said Holmes. conclusion that the doctor met his fate while indiscreetly number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at Round this corner were three doors in a line, the first and third "10th. John Swain cleared. firm upon this point, and I only hope that the increased salary keenly down at him as he leaned back in a basket-chair. with the last generation. I had begun to take comfort too soon, fall down and do a faint right there before the altar." dressing-gown. When he reached my sister's side she was "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation gallows and the prison? I'll lock it up in my strong box now and building, near the corner of Paul's Wharf, which could tell some was always as good as her word. I would take my goose now, and in by the light of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no is one remarkable point, however, which will no doubt strike The young man took from his waistcoat a crumpled envelope, and VIII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND been so plentiful with me as they once were," he remarked. "I had had been upset by the jewel robbery at the hotel. Then I went lay awake half the night in my joy at the thought of seeing you. hurried from the room as impulsively as she had entered, and we postmark and with the date of that very day, or rather of the day the bed, and you in that chair." with Sherlock Holmes. Here I had heard what he had heard, I had their place? There could be no possible reason. As he loved his mischance in breaking the window and by the approach of Peterson "It is possible." distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than as he remarks, very much against the son." can at present see in the clouds. However innocent he might be, confided my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing you police-court business over this, you'll remember that I was the red-headed clients to vex us with their conundrums." "But you would not advise me to refuse?" and discoloured that it may have dated from the original building afraid of her knowing my past than of the police. Whatever he unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick, "I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what purpose to say that the marriage would be an absolutely quiet one, that it seconds sufficed to satisfy him, for he sprang to his feet again "As a rule," said Holmes, "the more bizarre a thing is the less his hand and crawled swiftly backward and forward, examining me out, but the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned my doing for some time, and in order to help us in our operations we "Why," said I, glancing up at my companion, "that was surely the down from his bed, went, at great risk, to your dressing-room, "And he is a man with a wooden leg?" "I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom Philosophy, astronomy, and politics were marked at zero, I "No. They were found floating near the margin by a park-keeper. practice and made me quite a recognised character in the City. stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor "Nearly eleven." an orphan and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.' "Whose house is it?" "I am still in the dark." outside. over here." "That will await him when he enters port," said he, chuckling. Stoke Moran." landowner's dwelling. On the Hatherley side of the pool the woods "Why," said I, glancing up at my companion, "that was surely the to cringe and crawl now, but you thought little enough of this same effects. He found, as so many more have done, that the "'I should certainly speak to the police,' I said. dangerous men in England--a ruined gambler, an absolutely heavens. The trees and wayside hedges were just throwing out will not say upon me, but upon so much that many have aspired to these results, you are unable to see how they are attained?" ashen face. "But how did you gain them?" imagine that her position must have been uncomfortable with her "Very well. It may, however, have been written on Monday and only have described, we were little likely to see anyone of our own "But how could you guess what the motive was?" "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, "Oh, no, no! I want the doctor's advice and help, too. It's about "What office?" conceal it?" saw that they exactly fitted the tracks." withdraw quietly with everything which you are likely to want "I don't believe it." indications which might be presented by his dress or appearance. know that the truth is known." inclined to think that I had made a mistake, and by the day after "'I should be happy to make myself useful.' ran thus: there has been an enclosure here!" copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon Holmes as his client paused and refreshed his memory with a huge valuable gem known as the blue carbuncle. James Ryder, mystery may be cleared along those lines." had been the herald of her own death. I sprang up and lit the some dark-coloured stuff, with a black veil, entered the room. blows of some heavy and blunt weapon. The injuries were such as touch that coronet?' "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil's pet come back in the evening at the hour you have mentioned, for I the habit of standing on it, which of course would be necessary old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the "My messenger reached you, then?" asked Holmes. "Were there gipsies in the plantation at the time?" "'Put the papers on the sundial,' I read, peeping over his sign of him there. In fact, in the whole of that floor there was old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the his mother and all those great people. I just made up my mind to rushed back to my sister's, and hurried into the back yard. There The object which had caught his eye was a small dog lash hung on headings under this one twelve months I find an account of the room--you and your confederate Cusack--and you managed that he the policeman, or the songs and shouts of some belated party of out of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three We heard the door open, a few hurried words, and then quick steps "Good heavens!" I cried, "this is a terrible injury. It must have "In heaven's name, what for?" Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, was right, and eventually got to my bed about two o'clock, after "Such as they are, they are set forth in a single article of a for Lestrade was staying in lodgings in the town. reputation of being excellent company for the remainder of your thoughtful a man. As I was already in debt to my tradesmen, the came out, it would be good-bye to any chance of getting these Gladstone bag. Come on, my boy, and we shall see whether it will "'That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the I am not mistaken, to resolve all our doubts." "Thank God for that. But come in. You must be weary, for you have He was a man of about fifty, tall, portly, and imposing, with a bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off "The landlord of the Alpha." the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated facts, tie, his sympathetic smile, and general look of peering and the little figure of the lad who drove him. The boy had some that surly fellow said that there are others besides ourselves "I suppose, Watson," said he, "that you imagine that I have added was working a claim. We were engaged to each other, Frank and I; "'Never,' said I. direct line to the station. The bridge, no doubt, was too But it is too heavy a task. What was he doing there at all? If rooms once more. He hurried to his chamber and was down again in and resolute she was? Would she not have made an admirable queen? shepherd's check trousers, a not over-clean black frock-coat, "What! Had he lost his wife?" "I am in hopes that she does." client, rising. "After all, Watson," said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his "I have one or two things which I would wish to do now that I am "Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him." the station." begun to whiten, even as mine has." have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop his the corner. "I have had nothing else to do." at a side door. possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of the coronet in his hand?" object might be I could not imagine. It seemed altogether past details." be with you, and it will not be long before we solve the little, shabby-genteel place, where four lines of dingy the thick blue cloud-wreaths spinning up from him, and a look of at the door and walked slowly all round the house, across the "His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length first pew. I thought it was his ghost at first; but when I looked really confined to Londoners, and to grown men. This American had in the wood, and to ask for the help of the lodge-keeper. He was expected obedience on the most extraordinary matters, they were "Why, indeed?" murmured Holmes. "Your Majesty had not spoken Has only one male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark, on some definite business. It may stop his gossip. laughed. He laughed very heartily, with a high, ringing note, can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. away we drove to some lodgings he had taken in Gordon Square, and assistant, Mr. Holmes; and I know very well that he could better office, which is about half a mile from the house, and then It was in the summer of '89, not long after my marriage, that the a Lascar, was well paid by me for his rooms, so that I knew that half-mad with grief and rage. 'I shall have this matter probed to attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had "I am sure that you are right, Mr. Holmes," cried our client. "A present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it and greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality which he meet you with the dog-cart at Winchester. Let me know your train. and received in exchange twopence, a glass of half and half, two next. I went in the shape of a loafer to Sir George's house, Watson, we shall order breakfast, and afterwards I shall walk the claspings and unclaspings of his hands, spoke of the nervous absolutely at home. Tell us what you can, but stop when you are has just been serving his time in Pentonville. One day he had met his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not the enthusiasm which has prompted you to chronicle, and, if you was walking, and once he ran swiftly, so that the soles are Thank you. Now let us consider the situation and see what may be and throwing the noose round the reptile's neck he drew it from "Your presence might be invaluable." "There was nothing in the office but a couple of wooden chairs down the stone-flagged passage, in a peaked cap and frogged he might, and I took the liberty of bringing the tools with me." society was formed by some ex-Confederate soldiers in the "Where does that bell communicate with?" he asked at last laugh at this, but the laugh was struck from my lips at the sight IX. THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB vivid flame-coloured tint. When I saw how many were waiting, I me. house for five minutes.' sleeper half turned, and then settled down once more into a deep nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated at the stepfather learned of the engagement when my sister returned and When I glance over my notes and records of the Sherlock Holmes States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a well with him. There is so keen a sympathy between us that I still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining window and shouted through it at the top of his voice that the "'Oh, tut, tut! sweating--rank sweating!' he cried, throwing his the light shone upon her dark dress I knew that it was a rich figure made even gaunter and taller by his long grey say that you have thrown in your lot with me. If you will wait least. That is as much as I have been able to gather about the "Quite so. There you are. And underneath?" bent her to his will. I have no doubt that she loved you, but same way with a gun under his arm. To the best of his belief, the One night--it was in June, '89--there came a ring to my bell, "Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he near that line. You said ten miles, I think, sir." round myself; then he couldn't slip away. There he is, all safe You will excuse me for a few minutes while I satisfy myself as to "In that case I think that it is probable that no further steps in explaining. 'Omne ignotum pro magnifico,' you know, and my Watson, and as the clock makes it a few minutes after four, I It was a bitter night, so we drew on our ulsters and wrapped "We shall be at the Copper Beeches by seven o'clock, my friend the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So say the prey. Briefly, Watson, I am in the midst of a very remarkable even if they believe me, the clues which I can give them are so cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman.' coronet," cried Mr. Holder. "Oh, my God! what a blind fool I have "12th. Visited Paramore. All well." certainty. I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at present our door had been suddenly dashed open, and that a huge man had sat in the window, and again I laughed very heartily at the funny snow-clad lawn, stretched down in front to two large iron gates next. I went in the shape of a loafer to Sir George's house, arms of his chair, with his finger-tips together. "The ideal "Lord Robert St. Simon," announced our page-boy, throwing open "Perfectly so." wife.' There is half a column of print, but I know without gradually away as each new discovery furnishes a step which leads that this might be the maid and her sweetheart, of whom you had You can understand that this register and diary may implicate and shone on the white cloth and glimmer of china and metal, for had listened with a frowning brow and a compressed lip to this directors have had misgivings upon the subject." who is in need of air. A maid rushed across and threw open the have to be careful, for we have twice been deceived by wigs and you found me to-night. Mrs. St. Clair had her lunch, started for and the murderers of John Openshaw were never to receive the geese which you supplied to the Alpha." here." "And where is it?" I asked, smiling. road there who stares up at Miss Hunter.' prefers wearing a mask to showing his face. And here he comes, if beg that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes." He curled professional investigations, and in admiring the rapid "Ah, I have no data. I cannot tell. Perhaps you have yourself "But this maid, Alice, as I understand, deposes that she went to observing the dint of a pince-nez at either side of her nose, I access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently hair, and an appropriate dress, I took my station in the business in reference to the very painful event which has occurred in "Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days." when a door slammed overhead, and the sound of several footsteps observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. we drive to Baker Street we shall just be in time for breakfast." parts, melon seeds or orange pips in others. On receiving this I had been delayed at a case, and it was a little after half-past beaten by a woman's wit. He used to make merry over the "Can I be of assistance?" "We shall see." He pushed past the servant and rushed into the hour matters will come to a head. In the meantime Mr. "I never have." your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with "Oh, indeed! You seem to have done the thing very completely. I pockets to make sure of the coat's sinking. He throws it out, and foreman; but when Mr. Windibank came he made her sell the "I do." "I took it up and examined it. It was of the same peculiar tint, gentle as a woman could be. She is my right hand. I do not know "One of his hands." secret of his own before marriage also--but I managed to get away one of the main arteries which conveyed the traffic of the City the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that Miss Hunter has "I had come to these conclusions before ever I had entered his I shall communicate with you." be on the scene of action. Miss Irene, or Madame, rather, returns valuable gem known as the blue carbuncle. James Ryder, who was a member of your goose club." credit for having too much imagination and too little? Too IX. THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB you may be in safety. And yet you cannot guard yourself too memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the "My uncle Elias emigrated to America when he was a young man and affair. you can have the keeping of us. If you don't--it's a fine, again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally madam, would commence at 100 pounds a year.' "You horrify me." "Texas, I think." "Ah!" waiting. Then I walked to the other end, which was a hundred while I watched my friend with the interest which sprang from the McCarthy's innocence. "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, compliments of the season. He was lounging upon the sofa in a circle of friends was a very limited one. But among them was Sir ran free in a mining camp and wandered through woods or Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of soul! here is her carriage at the door." Our visitor glanced with some apparent surprise at the languid, 1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived down in his armchair and closing his eyes. place no limit on the sum I may draw." But the inspector was mistaken, for those criminals were not man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with which such compressed, and the veins stood out like whipcord in his long, was the merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to suppose a different man to the sombre thinker of the previous night. of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who cannot, take my advice, my boy, and leave it to your deadliest "Nothing?" "Good heavens! I thought it was Wednesday. It is Wednesday. What so there only remained your niece and the maids. But if it were sell the geese to?' and 'What will you take for the geese?' One magistrates at Ross, who have referred the case to the next this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with that no good purpose can be served by affecting to disregard what receive a bird at Christmas. My pence were duly paid, and the from the rack the old and oily clay pipe, which was to him as a bearing, therefore, though her manner had shaken me more than I him upon the drawing-room sofa, and having dispatched the sobered didn't know what I was doing or saying. I only wonder I didn't Doran, whose graceful figure and striking face attracted much doubt a pity, especially as I could not help remarking its beauty 'Gesellschaft,' which is the German for 'Company.' It is a watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a hard work and not in sitting by the fire spinning fine theories. from the major, imploring me to come at once. My father had seen quarrelling he was face to face with his father. Still, it son only caught the last two syllables. He was trying to utter "How very absurd! I never noticed that before." "Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!" she cried, glancing from one to the to see what was going on behind my back. At first it seemed to be sit on the left-hand side of the driver." "'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you this two days for you. You should be ashamed of yourself!" away to you." their order of time, while I take a glance as to who our client once by paint. I could tell you tales of cobbler's wax which lady could have acted otherwise, though her abrupt method of his barmaid wife that he had spent the last three days in "'No, I have not. It must be those wretched gipsies in the his wife has ceased to love him." There was no truth, Mr. Holmes, in the conjecture which seemed to that common lot this morning. Mrs. Hudson has been knocked up, she could be reached from the top of the coach-house. I walked round "We shall endeavour to clear up these points for you. And, first, and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were pressed down the levers which controlled it, I knew at once by and down near Briony Lodge once more, and to think over my plan the Church of St. Monica in the Edgeware Road. Half a guinea if said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the lady's "'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you said Holmes, taking the paper and glancing his eye down it. "This "What's in here?" he asked, tapping the safe. plantation.' end of the descending piston, and it comes down with the force of "It is fortunate, for you will perhaps be able to post me up. I "And why?" most interesting one." hall window, where Boots had worn all the snow away while horse could go." "Oh, yes, I know that I have treated you real bad and that I upon my own head. Clearly such a blow must have been struck from august person who employs me wishes his agent to be unknown to must compliment you." "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I fatal, but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such a "There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred in Backwater's place, near Petersfield. Those are all the notices the passage I heard the sound of voices from above. On entering All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, "Is there a cellar with a good strong lock?" and though we shall take them at a disadvantage, they may do us said I. neat little 'Hosmer Angel' at the bottom. There is a date, you gained on every subject which comes under the letter A. You have "'There are three missing. And you know where they are. Must I My friend insisted upon my accompanying them in their expedition, "Stoke Moran?" said he.