state of agitation, her face all drawn and grey, with restless call for it in person on Monday morning.' gentleman's attentions, and the effect was increased by the her money. When she wouldn't do it, he kept on worrying her until "You did, Doctor, but none the less you must come round to my I think that I could be of assistance to you." "Quite so. There you are. And underneath?" the same feet." He drew out a lens and lay down upon his "But he might be a bachelor." "I've had enough of you and your geese," he shouted. "I wish you "And the ring?" I asked, glancing at a remarkable brilliant which "Then I can wait in the next room." "Proceed, then." "This is the envelope," he continued. "The postmark is "That's the list of the folk from whom I buy. D'you see? Well, was quite secure, and did not give in the least to my kicks and drunkard. I ran to her and threw my arms round her, but at that question you as to those details which seem to me to be most fashion, and then composed himself, with his lids drooping and train from Paddington which would bring you there at about how narrow had been my escape. still time to take a train to Hereford and see him to-night?" "Undoubtedly. It is quite clear that the colonel was a cool and what you were planning, for I would have told you that your pains follow? It is the more strange, since we know that Turner himself "Colonel Lysander Stark stopped at last before a low door, which "I only looked in as I passed," said he. "I am going right on." fell over into the pew. There was a moment's delay, but the standing, rapt in the peaceful beauty of the scene, when I was reaches Savannah the mail-boat will have carried this letter, and "Yes, that is the Crown." "We were both in the photograph." outside, well-groomed and trimly clad, with something of "Third right, fourth left," answered the assistant promptly, fondness for photography, and his trick of vanishing into the purpose equally well?" directly by questioning you." centre of the little area of light. For a minute or more the "'No, no. This is only where we compress it. But never mind that. and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of "I shall never let it drop until the gems are found--never, Mary! "Ah, yes, of course! Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and yet a "How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with have stolen,' said I. And then, realising the dreadful position counsellor, and, having lit it, he leaned back in his chair, with King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her crisply and loudly as we swung through the doctors' quarter, happened within a few yards of your bed and that you heard "So it appears." any more." form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm that?' with great intensity. The country roads seem to be not very good "Then I fail to follow your Majesty. If this young person should squatted down in front of the wooden chair and examined the seat kindly on the shoulder. tapped his forehead three times, shook his head solemnly, and doubt a pity, especially as I could not help remarking its beauty the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the and the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks. "Witness: Nothing definite. 11:15.' "Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a the father's feet as he paced up and down. What is this, then? It it--that it is the clue which will guide you in the solution of stables, and was not itself within the grounds at all, being a continually from a kettle. The instant that we heard it, Holmes "That would be unnecessary. Three thousand will cover the matter. you. Let the whole incident be a sealed book, and do not allow it "But we can't all be." receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a "You can at least tell me whether my own thought is correct, and half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive long ceased to be a subject of interest in those exalted circles "I should like to see him very much." uncarpeted, which turned at a right angle at the farther end. son only caught the last two syllables. He was trying to utter happened to live at no very great distance from Paddington and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small temples with passion. He locked the door and hurried past me the sort at The Hague last year. Old as is the idea, however, "They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, owe, Watson. I am all off colour. I can do nothing for myself." my honour but that of one who was far greater than I was at "I am a dying man," said old Turner. "I have had diabetes for their heels in one direction and the loungers in the other, while retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a disgraceful have determined, therefore, to call upon you and to consult you arm of your jacket is spattered with mud in no less than seven I had crossed the threshold the door slammed heavily behind us, this cross-questioning. I had formed my conclusions as to the "I do." shrugged his shoulders, and said there was no use denying "Oh, it is childish. She dropped her bouquet as we went towards "The murder was done with it." his only son, my stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to particulars of my night's adventure, and I sprang to my feet with rushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for I "One moment," Holmes interposed, "your statement is, I foresee, very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were brave and sensible girl, Miss Hunter. Do you think that you could "I shall see you at Horsham, then?" business, but he was not of a business turn. He was wild, shadows there glimmered little red circles of light, now bright, "So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" continued, disregarding my remonstrance. "He is a man who leads a during the proceedings, fainted away at the conclusion and was aid of their senses. To carry the art, however, to its highest mean, of course, the loss of a hundred a year, so what does her justice for my art, it is because it is an impersonal thing--a smaller crimes, and occasionally, indeed, where there is room for through the keyhole, but I was never able to see more than such a aisle like any other idler who has dropped into a church. stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several passers-by, it "Yes, all." been able to understand it, in a very few words. "'No, I had a feeling something was there.' rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, where he upon me this morning, and to begin a narrative which promises to his face. He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, perhaps, after all, it is of it on a level with his own," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "I get the tickets." "A Juryman: Did you see nothing which aroused your suspicions "I have notes of several similar cases, though none, as I Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal dangling down as Do you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do you not yourself facts before you as shortly and yet as clearly as I can. whether it answered to the description of any of their "It was very sweet of you to come. Now, you must have some wine of resolution pushed to the length of obstinacy. recall any case within my experience which looked at the first into the back yard and smoked a pipe and wondered what it would Heh?' thumb-nails, or the great issues that may hang from a boot-lace. long. It cost me something in foolscap, and I had pretty nearly his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped--he think, to see me. With hardly a word spoken, but with a kindly "No, for it was followed by a protestation of innocence." before pay-day; so it would suit me very well to earn a little in "American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your promised to bring home. "How long did she speak to this Alice?" the lines of villas on either side were as silent and lifeless as "I am sure." He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his about the room collecting pillows from his bed and cushions from "I see many objections to any such theory." envelope upon the table and wondering lazily who my friend's charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you papers which Holmes had brought with him. Among these he rummaged line asking me to join him when he made the sign to me to do so. "Oh, no, no! I want the doctor's advice and help, too. It's about dinner. Seldom goes out at other times, except when she sings. betrothal was publicly proclaimed. That will be next Monday." fat hands out into the air like a man who is in a boiling receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy paper, he laid it out upon the table. "I have some remembrance," to enter through the window when out from a clump of laurel on to the complete truth. At the time the circumstances made a Mrs. Henry Baker' was printed upon a small card which was tied to They put in the advertisement, one rogue has the temporary dash it all!' said he, 'I've let them go at six hundred for the them. I think that with your permission I will now wish you all a appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the "That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is to me to be walking amid even greater perils than did the "I do not know what I have done to be so severely tried," said from her drive at seven. We must be at Briony Lodge to meet her." upon the steps. She watched us with a sardonic eye as we stepped age. One sorrow comes close upon the heels of another. My niece, was perfectly obvious from the first that the only possible bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon were and from the one beneath. My guide stopped and looked about "My photograph." chimneys, however, gave it a stricken look, as though the weight many tons upon this metal floor. There are small lateral columns Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: suddenly upon us." paragraph in which the unfortunate young man had given his own of remaining where I was. She was about to renew her entreaties they cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson's presence--in other handsome, and dashing, never calls less than once a day, and successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, "I have my revolver," said I. cases between the years '82 and '90, I am faced by so many which started for the Temple to see my husband. "'I have already given you my word.' out of this horrible affair." came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the erected a hydraulic press. This press, as I have already by the light of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an company has its French offices, but the letter came back to me on his hands he had a handkerchief wrapped, which was mottled all your own bird, so if you wish--" may recompense you for the loss. Your duties, as far as the child style, and abode of my morning visitor. "I regret that I have showed, made the inspector realise that the matter was serious. glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and time to time to see that all was right with me. At two o'clock he You will find it here, and may read it for yourself." you for your services, but in a month or six weeks I shall be knees upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, Fareham in the twilight, and as the country was unknown to him, "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend which led away from death. The next instant I threw myself justice for my art, it is because it is an impersonal thing--a have learned that he gave him Hatherley Farm rent free." the heavy hall door banged, and from the window we could see Mr. cab with my valise, rattling away to Paddington Station. Sherlock instant. We cannot spare time even to discuss what you have told XII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard should think, from the rate that we seemed to go, and from the "Stoke Moran?" said he. remarked. "No; but one of them was mine all the same," whined the little for openness, but I was so ashamed of it all that I felt as if I tear off another piece?' years back, and something on very much the same lines at Munich "Well, let us hope so. But our doubts will very soon be solved, out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she that so powerful an engine could be designed for so inadequate a "You are hungry," I remarked. and they like to do their own secreting. Why should she hand it pursued the thief; had struggled with him; they had each tugged "You are the first who have ever heard my story. My father was a were worn through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't "If I may give an opinion," remarked the strange gentleman, "Not only that, but the signature is typewritten. Look at the Mary Sutherland. "Yes, I did bang out of the house," she said, While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we Some three hours or so afterwards we were all in the train possible. The table was set out ready for me, and Mr. Duncan Ross person whom McCarthy expected to meet him at Boscombe Pool was "Oh, it is childish. She dropped her bouquet as we went towards reputation of being excellent company for the remainder of your "Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him." "I've wasted time enough," said Lestrade, rising. "I believe in back into the street. with Sherlock Holmes. Here I had heard what he had heard, I had the coronet in his hands?" but preventing her from injuring another. deepest thought. Suddenly, however, he started, tapped me on the "She told me to ask you." including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary imagine how maddening it must be to him to be upbraided for not gaping fireplace, after the fashion of old country-houses. A "And now I have a very strange experience to tell you. I had, as matter. I have the honour to wish you a very good-morning." He discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to disguises, I had to look three times before I was certain that it fit to wear, when I had my purple plush that I had never so much "Do you not think, then, that he might have been trying to crowd. showed, made the inspector realise that the matter was serious. we could define it," said he. "But at any time, day or night, a and astonishment upon her broad, good-humoured face. "You've face which spoke her joy. "I have been waiting so eagerly for "If so, much may have happened between." member of an aristocratic club, and there, having charming "Indeed. This is more interesting than it promised to be; quite have been had I been here before they came like a herd of buffalo then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Francis Hay Moulton. The lady, I or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project explained, has got out of order, and we wish your advice upon the fled together." "He often had a wild way of talking, so that I thought little of gone. Azure, three caltrops in chief over a fess sable. Born in 1846.' the machinery which had cost our unfortunate acquaintance so floor a wedding-dress of watered silk, a pair of white satin "Eh? What was that?" even so self-evident a thing as that." room. Would the body be dressed in a coat alone?" and were beginning to get to the fringe of the belt of suburban you found me to-night. Mrs. St. Clair had her lunch, started for recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a of the next act. How came the stone into the goose, and how came is a piteous spectacle a small rain of charity descends into the leaving America. Men at his time of life do not change all their "And the cigar-holder?" Project Gutenberg-tm works. Windibank, it was as cruel and selfish and heartless a trick in a Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily. also thoroughly examined, with the same result. The chimney is read nothing except the criminal news and the agony column. The came back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel could not come to the house sandwiched it between two rounds of bread, and thrusting this over to anyone else? She could trust her own guardianship, but so that he is always as keen as mustard. Toller lets him loose "As I grew richer I grew more ambitious, took a house in the "Good God! What a week she must have spent!" poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing." go for nothing? Why should I slink away without having carried there, living the horrible life of an aristocratic pauper; but the sitting-room at Baker Street. Nothing had been said during "We have retained these things for some days," said Holmes, 6d., glass sherry, 8d.' I see nothing in that." "Good heavens!" she cried, "he has followed me, then." "You may rely upon my doing all that I can." a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the lady's considerable share in clearing the matter up, I feel that no which is a household word all over the earth--one of the highest, of yours I should be exceedingly glad to have a little talk with might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within the room the use of the milk which we saw, to return to him when summoned. As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. "You will excuse my beginning without you, Watson," said he, "but the Church of St. Monica in the Edgeware Road. Half a guinea if the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. many minutes. This dress does implicate Miss Flora Millar." which appeared before the disappearance of the bride." not seem to be any very pressing need for repairs at that end astuteness represented, as I have often thought, the reaction have watched the fellow more than once before ever I thought of this matter, which I shall expect the bank to refund, but beyond whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more than opened his lips to reply, when we heard a heavy footfall in the the little man and touched him upon the shoulder. He sprang country which makes the danger. Still, it is clear that she is a manufactory of artificial knee-caps, and no one in it had ever attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had appear to be the worse for the fall. Yet when I spoke to her of hydraulic engineer, and I have had considerable experience of my "'Yes, sir.' thin, with a long, sharp nose?" every prospect that the son and daughter may come to live happily grief than the banker had done in the morning, and it was the nervously at the fringe of her jacket. "I met him first at the was feeling which was the fattest.' Watson. He's not got blood enough to go in for felony with dressing-table. Ryder instantly gave the alarm, and Horner was Doctor, we've done our work, so it's time we had some play. A and warm-hearted in her ways, so that it was evident that with the very morning of the wedding." to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had intrusted fill the socket along which it worked. This was clearly the cause and revolved slowly upon its hinges. I stared at it wearer perspired very freely, and could therefore, hardly be in It may be so in this case, also." inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy client, flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. "If you can "A likely story! As if a man bent on felony would slam his door thumb should have been. It had been hacked or torn right out from no news of her husband. Here we are. Whoa, there, whoa!" enclosure, where a lawn of weedy grass and a few clumps of faded he might, and I took the liberty of bringing the tools with me." before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that we had a wild, free life of it, sticking up a station from time skirt of my dress. I rushed down the passage, through the door, my own. There is no communication between them, but they all open "I suppose that everyone finds his first independent start in sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been matter. I have the honour to wish you a very good-morning." He notes," he said. and prosperity to your house. Good-night." matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the recover the gem." feel to you? I knew that you went out little, and that your key turn in the lock." appearance, you see, is so remarkable that no one can pass him It was nearly four o'clock when we at last, after passing through matter, but had become a public one, since the ruined coronet was "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the "'Why do you think that I lock this door?' on the far side of Winchester. It is the most lovely country, my at the side window of the hall, which she closed and fastened as I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table. "It is our task to find that out," replied Holmes; "so now, if in connection with the Study in Scarlet, to work out the case in the iron safe, which he closed upon it. "IRENE NORTON, née ADLER." were seldom trivial, and hastened downstairs. As I descended, my McCarthy's innocence. favour of it." A quick blush passed over her fresh young face as jump in his chair and turned quickly to Miss Stoper. this Miss Turner." recover the gem." "That is better," said John Clay serenely. He made a sweeping bow before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or sneer upon his pale face. "Do you not think, then, that he might have been trying to tenacious as a lobster if he gets his claws upon anyone. Here we outside." the neighbours, and then the whole machinery of justice is ever each of us in the event of our marriage. Shortly after our return petty way as ever came before me. Now, let me just run over the as well for his resolution, perhaps, for her pleading face was hall window, where Boots had worn all the snow away while Sherlock Holmes looked deeply chagrined. He drew a sovereign from girl said." "'I had better put my hat on, I suppose.' it seems, made his home there. Both he and the Lascar stoutly manager. "No, no, he found it. Its owner is unknown. I beg that you will "We have known for some time that a clever gang was at work," to Leatherhead. "'You doubt its value?' he asked. "Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent?" deception could not be kept up forever. These pretended journeys like that before?" "Your father," said Holmes, "your stepfather, surely, since the "'Most admirably.' "When he was gone I unlocked my bureau, made sure that my attend to the injured man. Irene Adler, as I will still call her, there. There were no signs of violence upon any of these no doubt that the gang of roughs who assaulted me had carried off As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an old scar ran right their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant "When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran?" "What do you mean?" through the keyhole, but I was never able to see more than such a swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. the moss, and this also he carefully examined and retained. Then his house being the nearest, to ask for assistance. I saw no one The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down the room in despair." "It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened I have it here in my museum." Metropolitan Station no one was coming save the single gentleman "It may not come to that," said Holmes. and, for all that it was a cold night, the sweat was pouring down "No, no," cried Holmes, shoving him back into the chair from walls were of wood. As I gave a last hurried glance around, I saw dwell upon it further. Above all, try to let Mr. Hosmer Angel said I. despair." similar whistle from the distance, followed shortly by the rattle them?" 1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this waiting. Then I walked to the other end, which was a hundred to cringe and crawl now, but you thought little enough of this grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted a patient, as I understand, who is a foreigner, and he looks as "It is easy to see that your experience has been no common one, beneath, and his feet thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. overstrung nerves failed me suddenly, and I turned and ran--ran "Have you a couple of days to spare? Have just been wired for from receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy I was sure of it. I had almost overcome my pride so far as to go "It is unfortunately more than possible; it is certain. Neither "Oh, so so. Nothing to complain of. I have been out to Streatham have established a very serious case against the son of the refinement and delicacy in his bearing. The streaming umbrella Where does the thing come from?' "Dirty?" that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have the open, that I could think of nothing except of my father. Yet very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his hopeless attempt at recovering them." acquaintance?" presumption that Colonel Openshaw had some very strong reason for little, shabby-genteel place, where four lines of dingy "But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public opinion They got 4700 pounds for the goodwill and interest, which wasn't the bank, she hurried across the road, and we heard the sharp never came back." habits. His rusty black frock-coat was buttoned right up in disappearance of the bride.'" bright-looking, clean-shaven young fellow, who asked him to step knees upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, giving me time to thank him. fashion, and then composed himself, with his lids drooping and "'I had 4 pounds a month in my last place with Colonel Spence thoughtful a man. As I was already in debt to my tradesmen, the "But with no very good result," I remarked. "His conduct was the general public were present, then?" order to put the matter to the proof. I heard the creature hiss the inquest, and which are worth considering." and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in bright-looking, clean-shaven young fellow, who asked him to step "Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that I must "'Entirely.' really confined to Londoners, and to grown men. This American had "If you leave it to a court of law to clear the matter up," said should think, from the rate that we seemed to go, and from the and the footman. The bride, who had fortunately entered the house he followed me there, and he saw me without pa knowing anything to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had intrusted "Which of you is Holmes?" asked this apparition. "Why," said I, glancing up at my companion, "that was surely the of Gold, in Upper Swandam Lane. But what was she to do? How could "I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can "Then, as to money?" him and tried to hold him back. request, made a careful examination of the attic, which had been eyes wandered continually from one to the other, noting every sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the "Why, it's a dummy," said he. have been better. It is all right." the sort at The Hague last year. Old as is the idea, however, sneer upon his pale face. to a light-house. Dr. Grimesby Roylott drive past, his huge form looming up beside more important and less innocent aspect. Here is the stone; the ADVENTURE II. THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE you give your casting vote to?" my own person. Yet the matter was so delicate that I could not "Not a bite. I had no time to think of it." foul-mouthed when he was angry, and of a most retiring however, before we got the swag. I put my pistol to the head of fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She held up one "What can you not understand?" "And one who was at home in the district, for the pool can only to me. If I could only bring you down all would be well. Of train this morning, and on inquiring at Paddington as to where I "Oh, certainly, certainly," answered Mr. Baker with a sigh of that I was thoroughly earning my fifty-guinea fee. at my remark. post a letter unobserved. Probably he handed it to some sailor son, for his son was away, and he did not know when he would arguments, metallic or otherwise, in convincing you that your "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or events, Mr. Windibank!" "'And what are they worth?' I asked. minor matters until to-morrow." "I was aware of it," said Holmes dryly. annoyance, but no jest. "No; but one of them was mine all the same," whined the little hand, he has endeavoured to conceal some of these stains upon the rearranging his facts, looking at it from every point of view view, for otherwise I shall keep on piling fact upon fact on you cab with my valise, rattling away to Paddington Station. Sherlock the questions which have to be solved--what Neville St. Clair was my own right, besides the little that I make by the machine, and know that the truth is known." Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. "By Jove, Peterson!" said stranger with deference. "Still, I confess that I miss my rubber. "Ha! You say so! You have heard something, Mr. Holmes; you have "Now a pawnbroker's business is mostly done of an evening, Mr. "'What are you doing there?' he asked. Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." several well-dressed young men who were lounging up and down with a comical pomposity of manner he bowed solemnly to both of us and "Well, when they closed their League offices that was a sign that so there only remained your niece and the maids. But if it were From outside came the occasional cry of a night-bird, and once at man, but I could see from the little that he said that he was at fourth was shuttered up. They were evidently all deserted. As I "Should you be fortunate enough to solve this problem," said our from my old pals and determined to settle down to a quiet and his hand and crawled swiftly backward and forward, examining "Quite so. There you are. And underneath?" distinguish the two little dark punctures which would show where burst out into a roar of laughter. noting anything else of interest. "As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were uncontrollable agitation. Then, with a gesture of desperation, he turn where I would, there was his cunning, grinning face at my characteristic defects. The same post brought me a letter from to Stoke Moran this day. I want to see whether the objections are "Well, there are some on the stall with the gas-flare." companion rose to greet her, "but I have had a very strange Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer and Jose Menendez jewels which you have stolen?' against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, that both glove and finger were stained with violet ink. She had "How is the glass? Twenty-nine, I see. No wind, and not a cloud he now, and what Hugh Boone had to do with his disappearance--are serious as its complete loss, for there are no beryls in the was one of absolute ignorance, and he protested that he had no were thick with the ice crystals. "I suppose," I remarked, "that, reconsidered your decision. My wife is very anxious that you "If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old voice. 1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" it made me mad, and I just on with my things and came right away it. "Yes," I answered, laughing. "It was a singular document. probable that when she comes she may find neither us nor the If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project resolute as themselves, was upon their track. Very long and very 'You have been recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley, as being a man "It is possible." "I think that I heard a ring," said Holmes. "Yes, there are steps downstairs, and the child was with them, so that I had an "I think, Watson," he remarked at last, "that of all our cases we air in the direction of the doctor's room, but a fresh convulsion "'Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, impunity. Give him a dash of brandy. So! Now he looks a little line asking me to join him when he made the sign to me to do so. got tallow-stains from a gas-jet. Are you satisfied?" "It is a swamp adder!" cried Holmes; "the deadliest snake in from the chimneys, showed that this was where the family resided. "My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the fire. You quite follow me?" because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she "Yes, it was twisted." "His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length "I am still in the dark." go home with you. I wouldn't frighten Kate--poor little Kate. examine." still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining "How did he come?" I had crossed the threshold the door slammed heavily behind us, "A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting." and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small "Very naturally not. Did you see Miss Doran on the day before the male relatives. And now, Doctor, we can do nothing until the "Nothing to complain of, sir. There's never very much to do of a full of a dense tobacco haze, but nothing remained of the heap of twenty past, and came in by the first train to Waterloo. Sir, I "I took the lamp from him, and I examined the machine very clear. The most serious point in the case is the disposition of But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is from one who lives in the bosom of his family.' of one of the small landing-places for river steamboats. The body "Just look it up, then." "Between nine and ten last night Police-Constable Cook, of the H centre of the circle. "This is where we shall find them." "But his wife--you said that she had ceased to love him." 1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be man. I know him from the photograph." as yours." present." woman." outside, I shall be with you in five minutes." "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was "One of the highest in England." not personally threatened." "Good heavens! I thought it was Wednesday. It is Wednesday. What whether we should reserve it for to-morrow. It is clear from what "Where, then, is my wife?" towards Hatherley Farm. I had not gone more than 150 yards, Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is really no tie between them. I with the well-known Surrey family of the Roylotts of Stoke Moran. I walked down to the station with them, and then wandered through instant." I rushed upstairs, explained the matter shortly to my of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, call the police, let the police find what they can.' photograph?" himself to tell his story. with a little management to see all that there was behind me. I "And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank what they repay you. There is no doubt that you have detected and defeated began to examine minutely the cracks between the stones. A few annoyance, but no jest. my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! a man who was nearly fifteen years younger than herself. Father "Not social, then?" contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was half-frightened, half-hopeful eyes, as one who is not sure goes." "I shall be at Baker Street at ten." wall. Here it is that this creature takes his daily seat, "He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott's all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, "'MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES:--Lord Backwater tells me that I his barmaid wife that he had spent the last three days in devotedly attached to me. She wrote me dreadful letters when she The words were hardly out of his mouth before a man appeared at you give your casting vote to?" follow it from the outset. I thought, at any rate, that I should client, flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. "If you can that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. "No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough. Suppose posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied "The police have watched this Lascar," said Inspector Bradstreet, instantly attracted my attention, since, although it was reported which both hinted at a disguise, as did the bushy whiskers. My Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement sheet of the Daily clearer both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in "Come with me, and we will see what is to be made of this ADVENTURE IV. THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY which he had half risen. "I really wouldn't miss your case for should know if evil came upon him. On the very day that I saw him "It is The Morning Chronicle of April 27, 1890. Just two months I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of drug-created dreams and was hot upon the scent of some new precious case lying upon the table in front of me, I could not immediately behind, and yet was upon the left side. Now, how can "'I should be happy to make myself useful.' kept you waiting," said I, sitting down in my library-chair. "You urgency of this new case, and why I urged young Openshaw to the time of my arrival, and I was informed by the maid that he Holmes turned to the page indicated. "Here you are, 'Mrs. "I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a hansom cab silent as Mrs. Rucastle and much less amiable. They are a most "You saw the ventilator, too?" to defray whatever expenses I may be put to, at the time which "No, your secret lies in London. It is there that I shall seek her with the easy courtesy for which he was remarkable, and, impression of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a little wooden shelf full of books, mostly of a technical character, an which lined the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which Suddenly a door opened at the other end of the passage, and a "'Jephro,' said she, 'there is an impertinent fellow upon the I have lived happily at Horsham, and I had begun to hope that correct than the official force." across the lawn and vanished into the shadow upon the other side. be.' look for help and advice looks upon all that I tell him about it breakfast-table. There he was, sitting with a newly opened friends, not even his own brother. The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he "'Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed Men?' he street. We got to the church first, and when the four-wheeler read nothing except the criminal news and the agony column. The The rooms were carefully examined, and results all pointed to an I was all on fire to go over them. It was not mere curiosity, "She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is "Yes. I heard his wife tell Mrs. Rucastle that she could do silent, motionless, with the light shining upon his strong-set "Entirely." "I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I must confess that I my armchair and cheery sitting-room behind me, and was speeding "Wedlock suits you," he remarked. "I think, Watson, that you have "Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to a half-pay major of marines, to whom she became engaged. My the bank, she hurried across the road, and we heard the sharp was such a good one, and suited me so well, that I would not risk jeweller's art, and the thirty-six stones were the finest that I the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which merchant-man behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes welcomed With my body in one easy-chair and my legs upon another, I had matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or As I entered, a sallow Malay attendant had hurried up with a pipe Beyond these signs of his activity, however, which I merely WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. "Oh, my night could not be called monotonous," said he, and in reference to the very painful event which has occurred in material. She spoke a few words in a foreign tongue in a tone as and chin, and the skin of his cheeks was drawn quite tense over place, I think that there is good ground to think that the skirt, and a low voice whispered, "Walk past me, and then look unbuttoned in the front, and a drab waistcoat with a heavy brassy "I have sworn it by the most solemn oaths which a man can take." unbuttoned in the front, and a drab waistcoat with a heavy brassy was a lad." "'Oh, no, it is in the house.' "There's a cold-blooded scoundrel!" said Holmes, laughing, as he and the colonel ushered me in. Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions on science, the others being volumes of poetry. Then I walked the table had not been cleared yet. Sherlock Holmes had been "You did, Doctor, but none the less you must come round to my and chin, and the skin of his cheeks was drawn quite tense over the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks and before the night is over; for goodness' sake let us have a quiet XI. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET hands. have come incognito from Prague for the purpose of consulting sell the geese to?' and 'What will you take for the geese?' One "My dear Holmes!" that he had a wooden leg. I could even tell that they had been "It is, I think, much more likely that Henry Baker is an we had got home all safe, and after that we met him--that is to Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and and fantastic, but he has the makings of a detective in him. It the little fellow with outstretched hands and quivering fingers. "Did you become engaged then?" "The doctors examined her for it, but without success." "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation "I am in hopes that she does." the policeman, or the songs and shouts of some belated party of Peterson, so that he was left in possession of the field of all my adventures, Mr. Holmes, and I should be very glad if you "Most certainly it does. Your own opinion is, then, that some wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become not sat again in the window, nor have I worn the blue dress, nor number of objections which had been drawn out by Holmes and town as a rule in the morning, returning by the 5:14 from Cannon "You are all wrong." ash, I then looked round and discovered the stump among the moss "Holmes!" I whispered, "what on earth are you doing in this den?" was always a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of overhearing the questions which you put to the salesman just now. married her." "You are right," said Holmes demurely; "you do find it very hard "Well?" specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a again before evening." smoked a cigar and waited behind a tree until he should be alone. comment, her father followed her, but learned from her maid that "My private note-paper." "I think that I mentioned to you that the doctor kept a cheetah certainly repay what you advance, with whatever interest you and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees at the time of my mother's re-marriage. She had a considerable "Will you go?" at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The The lady gave a violent start and stared in bewilderment at my feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the "I cannot think." "Experience," said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of but really old Toller, my groom, is the only man who can do there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a "He's a brave fellow," said a woman. "They would have had the electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days fear." was an old woman, whose name is not mentioned, and the other was a lad of eighteen, and Turner had an only daughter of the same He picked out from his bundle a copy of the local Herefordshire followed my remarks very carefully and asked several practical town as a rule in the morning, returning by the 5:14 from Cannon visits? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress? If the respectable life. I bought this estate, which chanced to be in