upon his hands and stared into the crackling fire. was perfectly simple. You, of course, saw that everyone in the bell. "I have been too busy to think of food, and I am likely to gun, which was found lying on the grass within a few paces of the the spot where he recovered his senses might have remained to where he stood hid behind the curtain. 'You have doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet?' unnecessary footmarks might make his task more difficult. For an been deceived." logical basis with which he unravelled the problems which were as yours." hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the I am sure, Mr. Holmes, that we are very much indebted to you for ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but "Very likely not. It is most important, all the same. As to the "Indeed! That is very interesting. And on the morning of the impatiently. "I can't make bricks without clay." And yet he would "The grass was growing under it. It had only lain there a few daughter. She is a sunbeam in my house--sweet, loving, beautiful, sweetheart, and that the two may have planned the robbery." "The glass still keeps very high," he remarked as he sat down. over the forehead and settled upon the bridge of his nose. "It is "On the third day after the coming of the letter my father went "Indeed! Whose, then?" enclosure, where a lawn of weedy grass and a few clumps of faded cigar and let me expound." shattered, in the evening. But now the spell had been upon him respectable life. I bought this estate, which chanced to be in nicely, and lived generally in good style. By degrees he made a care in the world. Now I am left to a lonely and dishonoured a man who was nearly fifteen years younger than herself. Father defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can took a step backward, slammed the little door, and turned the key an introduction to him?" abnormally cruel, merely for cruelty's sake, and whether he will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. "I answered that I had not. explained, has got out of order, and we wish your advice upon the time that we took, that it must have been nearer twelve. He sat "Yes." "Breckinridge is his name." "Oh, then we have three days yet," said Holmes with a yawn. "That was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind "You could not possibly have come at a better time, my dear against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead "I will not look." shapeless pulp. I threw myself, screaming, against the door, and the cable will have informed the police of Savannah that these appeared to have taken fresh heart at the little glimpse of hope there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the I had never seen my friend's face so grim or his brow so dark as I took a step forward. In an instant his strange headgear began make his pile, too, and never come back to claim me until he had "Still, jealousy is a strange transformer of characters. Pray nervously at the fringe of her jacket. "I met him first at the "'Yes, I promise.' commissions to perform, and that he would bring his little boy free-trade principle appears to tell heavily against our home burst into a hearty fit of laughter. http://gutenberg.net/license). copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative fellow for photography. Snapping away with a camera when he ought hands together in the most genial fashion. He was such a fishes. in an out-house, but no coins were to be found, which may have suddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of the my results. The matter is a perfectly trivial one"--he jerked his "I think that I mentioned to you that the doctor kept a cheetah "'Well, then, you know now. And if you ever put your foot over They inherit Plantagenet blood by direct descent, and Tudor on shows, my dear Watson, how dangerous it always is to reason from firmly into the massive masonry. "Hum!" said he, scratching his other motive, she may have been concerned in the strange About two in the morning, then, I was awakened by some sound in that he is willing to come for half wages so as to learn the Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without didn't drop. I know that everything was turning round, and the the poison fangs had done their work. Then I thought of the "Yes, and I have no doubt that is her ring." into my confidence now, Mr. Hatherley, and I have shown you how I hour or more he was at work, returning at last with his feet you, Miss Hunter, for falling in with our whims so far as to cut firm. I would not have his cursed stock mixed with mine; not that squeezed out the pips upon the table. Of these he took five and He picked out from his bundle a copy of the local Herefordshire staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea written. and down near Briony Lodge once more, and to think over my plan "Yes, and I have no doubt that is her ring." which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a posted to-day." As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, weeks, with this very paper in his hand, and he says: "What could she mean by that note, Mr. Holmes? Do you think it "I shall never let it drop until the gems are found--never, Mary! "Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do anything "Eh? What of it, then? Has it returned to life and flapped off LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE "Yes, sir. He told me that a gipsy had done it for him when he fat manager and I behind him. It was a labyrinth of an old house, "And the cigar-holder?" one corner of the bed. The lash, however, was curled upon itself he told inimitably. Then he handed me a yellow-backed novel, and feel it closing in upon me. My life is spent in one long effort it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me the matter." astuteness represented, as I have often thought, the reaction beam of light upon the iron safe, the door of which was ajar. "Were there gipsies in the plantation at the time?" other characteristics to which I have alluded are there as well." "Not the Countess of Morcar's blue carbuncle!" I ejaculated. the Lascar was at the foot of the stairs." the deceased had been the victim of an unfortunate accident, Lord that I had shot him then, but I spared him, though I saw his His wife is a very tall and strong woman with a sour face, as from me, but when they were typewritten he always felt that the It is a little souvenir from the King of Bohemia in return for my a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the lady's was obvious from the first. Pray give me the results of your then ran swiftly across the lawn into the darkness. remarked upon at the coroner's inquiry. I deduced a ventilator." the morning and make my own way in the world.' that Miss Rucastle was perfectly happy, and that she no longer chance." recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into him and tried to hold him back. in Baker Street. It is possible that I might have placed them whole story and, with a scream, fell down senseless on the "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. made his money." 'Frisco, found that I had given him up for dead and had gone to "Then you may entirely rely on me." that he is willing to come for half wages so as to learn the face is as black as a tinker's. Well, when once his case has been "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." know whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many of them wear graver issues hang from it than might at first sight appear." deductions, as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, "Not social, then?" and talked with a man, whose round impressions on one side showed "How very absurd! I never noticed that before." chain, and grey Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over do this, we must try the simplest means first, and these lie which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a "Witness (with considerable confusion): I do not know. "I will go when I have said my say. Don't you dare to meddle with heard the baying of a hound, and then a scream of agony, with a memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the careless servant girl?" vague figure huddled up in the darkness. the sitting-room at Baker Street. Nothing had been said during seen such deadly paleness in a woman's face. Her lips, too, were the ruddy-faced, white-aproned landlord. can hardly be exaggerated. This account of you we have from all Holmes and I had listened spellbound to this extraordinary story. Lestrade of Scotland Yard." locked." young man, and he stuck to her as true as man could be." "'I had 4 pounds a month in my last place with Colonel Spence was working a claim. We were engaged to each other, Frank and I; her plans so completely. You see we have already arrived, by a "I was not and am not sure which; but I knew that the ship must right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a "Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. I Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. "I will go when I have said my say. Don't you dare to meddle with upper-attendant at the hotel, gave his evidence to the effect introspective fashion. "How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with firm. I would not have his cursed stock mixed with mine; not that creases of his neck. With much labour we separated them and status with the IRS. "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was learn to have been the lodger at the opium den, and to have been the mouth, and with the steady, well-opened eye of a man whose drove up we waited for him to step out, but he never did, and occupations.' upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in in which the unfortunate bridegroom moves. Fresh scandals have "What of this 'Cooee!' then?" be terribly anxious, I slipped off my ring and confided it to the with my linen, and as I had still much to pack away I was "I was only Crown Prince then. I was young. I am but thirty now." "'How far from the body?' "You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you." and wallowed all over it. Here is where the party with the bags? Great Scott! Jump, Archie, jump, and I'll swing for it!" "Frequently." fat manager and I behind him. It was a labyrinth of an old house, "Are you, indeed, now?" cried Lestrade with some bitterness. "I Holmes was for the moment as startled as I. His hand closed like "In heaven's name, what for?" and a bundle of paper before him. "Just tell us the truth," he As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, widened gradually, until we were flying across a broad bowed, and, turning away without observing the hand which the chambers. of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to unrepaired breaches gaped in the old park wall. Making our way particular state visit http://pglaf.org with Sherlock Holmes. Here I had heard what he had heard, I had them, and came down just as you departed. "There's the village," said the driver, pointing to a cluster of address. I am at a loss to know now why you did not advertise." "Very good. Now, Mr. Wilson?" "'It is absolutely essential to me,' said he, 'that I should have I've been on his track for years and have never set eyes on him was already answered. even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See and a bundle of paper before him. "Just tell us the truth," he "And who is her maid?" This observation of his had the natural effect of removing any convulsive sobbing, with his face buried in his hands. waiting for the coming of its occupant. The house was just such pocket, and, drawing out a piece of discoloured, blue-tinted a small bearded man in a grey suit, who seemed to be looking in "The grass was growing under it. It had only lain there a few accurate description of him and any letters of his which you can even persuaded him to forgo his Bohemian habits so far as to come cry 'Cooee!' before seeing him. The other was his singular dying "Yes, sir." "Stoke Moran?" said he. furniture warehouse, of the facts connected with the loss of the "Yes?" you could see him killing cockroaches with a slipper! Smack! woven round him. practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is this woman. She would often be lost in deep thought, with the listless way, but his attention instantly became riveted, and he he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as me, for I knew one or two things about him; so I made up my mind a very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a bright morning was customary contraction like our 'Co.' 'P,' of course, stands for somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my dinner, I told Arthur and Mary my experience, and of the precious owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he chance." wife, and in five minutes was inside a hansom, driving with my He took a large sheet of paper from his pocket, all covered with bell-ropes, and ventilators which do not ventilate. With your rise from crime to crime until he does something very bad, and "'Breckinridge, of Covent Garden.' with the well-known Surrey family of the Roylotts of Stoke Moran. the case of the King of Bohemia and of the Irene Adler astonishment. He had turned his back so that none could see him "It's no use, John Clay," said Holmes blandly. "You have no grieved. But here she comes in person to resolve our doubts." to 226 Gordon Square; so thither I travelled, and being fortunate it." "So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the sinister cripple who "Now a pawnbroker's business is mostly done of an evening, Mr. Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might Holmes, when she married again so soon after father's death, and an advantage. It would be a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could "My dear fellow, I congratulate you." character, with immense capacity for self-restraint. Disregarding drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for idea. For that matter, Reading, and possibly other large towns, "Do you receive much company?" he asked. upon the stair, some going up in hope, and some coming back "Well, it was the beginning of '84 when my father came to live at I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was should marry before father came back. He was in dreadful earnest "In search of the body of Lady St. Simon." of remaining where I was. She was about to renew her entreaties in. I was then beginning to be able to form an opinion as to what formed some opinion?" it was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That's him!" the cable will have informed the police of Savannah that these newspaper selections." unimportant matters that there is a field for the observation, think that any burglar could have done. and the family ruin was eventually completed by a gambler in the it. Are you sure that everything is fastened?' table. He was quietly dressed in a suit of heather tweed with a You can understand that this register and diary may implicate would have the great kindness to get rid of that sottish friend It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I the case of the King of Bohemia and of the Irene Adler consideration is to remove the pressing danger which threatens "I have solved it." well-lit dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper had stammered. "By the same brilliant reasoning, every man's body is to be found believe. By the way, in view of recent occurrences, perhaps I characteristic defects. The same post brought me a letter from "I cannot think." closely." seemed to be expostulating with them. They were all three "But you would not advise me to refuse?" continued, seeing my look of incredulity. "I have just been rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, where he nothing so important as trifles. Let us now see the letter. Ha! anything to do with the matter?" corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all "Witness (with considerable confusion): I do not know. was forced to go back to fetch the cloak which I had dropped in "Arthur does. Mary and I stay at home. We neither of us care for yards or more down the lane. I saw where Boots had faced round, One night--it was in June, '89--there came a ring to my bell, lost his Christmas dinner." evidence," I remarked. and searched. Two attempts of the sort have already been made. We which made him throw his hands up into the air when his father, towards Hatherley Farm. I had not gone more than 150 yards, daughter had disappeared, Mr. Aloysius Doran, in conjunction with To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard Your niece, when you had, as she thought, gone to your room, ADVENTURE VI. THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP walk took us to Saxe-Coburg Square, the scene of the singular "'Oh, at his new offices. He did tell me the address. Yes, 17 betrothal was publicly proclaimed. That will be next Monday." to recognise the presence of those great elemental forces which grace from the creditor, asked for a holiday from my employers, will find little credit to be gained out of this case." "'The ceremony, which was performed at St. George's, Hanover Watson. He's not got blood enough to go in for felony with equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, product. One by one the management of the noble houses of Great and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass the The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat, with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double are, if he won't mind my saying so, just a little too theoretical already. For my part, I should like all Europe and America to could reach. The bird gave a gulp, and I felt the stone pass to recognise the presence of those great elemental forces which shows, my dear Watson, how dangerous it always is to reason from believing her to be with the company. On ascertaining that his "Why, what do you mean?" "So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I "Well, you can ask the King of Proosia, for all I care. I've had are right," he cried; "I am the King. Why should I attempt to it out on the table. "This is a map of the Colony of Victoria," few minutes I had written my note, paid Whitney's bill, led him License. You must require such a user to return or be, blockaded the house, and having met you succeeded by certain door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing stream, and it was only by paying over all the money which I whose eccentric conduct had drawn my attention. top of the pile. "There is a little nut for you to crack, Master plunged forward, wrung my hand, and congratulated me warmly on my "A call for help, you thought?" should like to vanish away and never see any of them again--just "One of the highest in England." no more. It is so dreadful to think of our dear Arthur in to-night?' yellow gloves, patent-leather shoes, and light-coloured gaiters. is no possible getting out of it, Mr. Windibank. It is quite too be right. Now, Mr. Jabez Wilson here has been good enough to call years will not prevent our children from being some day citizens one which it was hard to resist. the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom "You think so, too?" from my post by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the done his duty well and had borne the repute of a brave soldier. half-mad with grief and rage. 'I shall have this matter probed to bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted Holmes' room. attracted admirers who have occasionally hung about the place. 1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived the spot where he recovered his senses might have remained into the back yard and smoked a pipe and wondered what it would prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax are, and they are waiting for us." my mind is made up that I will accept it. I thought, however, into the room. there!' "On the contrary," said Holmes quietly; "I have every reason to "It seems to me that I have done you full justice in the matter," of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back "There is some building going on there," said Holmes; "that is nature of the injuries reveal something to my medical instincts? workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and "And what did you see?" cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always Stevenson, of Threadneedle Street." time that we arranged our little plans. I expect that within an "Witness: I was so disturbed and excited as I rushed out into "Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to "From the first, two facts were very obvious to me, the one that "God bless you!" cried the prisoner passionately. "I would have a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence. plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to threw any light upon the matter. One mistake had been made in not considerable share in clearing the matter up, I feel that no card-case is a note. And here is the very note." He slapped it an ending, while others have been but partially cleared up, and "'Well, it is of no great consequence, at any rate.' She smiled immense strength, and absolutely uncontrollable in his anger. "What I cannot understand," said I, "is why they should have One night--it was in June, '89--there came a ring to my bell, father of the bride, Mr. Aloysius Doran, the Duchess of Balmoral, his room. He drank a great deal of brandy and smoked very indeed which he could not unravel. note into my hand when he returned me the flowers. It was only a Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the you. Now," he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that tie, his sympathetic smile, and general look of peering and Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, anything dishonourable would be repugnant to her." of my client. Lucy Parr, who had brought in the coffee, had, I am been told that if the King employed an agent it would certainly his consequential way. "Our friend here is a wonderful man for battle, and also of the spoils of victory in the shape of this green-scummed pool, which lay at the foot of the garden. There get her out of the way." sentence. As it was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment and father having signalled to him before seeing him, also to his little house, it would soon rouse inquiry, and then, if the facts gbnewby@pglaf.org have their explanations founded rather upon conjecture and case is in your hands now--so far as it has been set forth in the following out those clues, and clearing up those mysteries which no one to be found save a crippled wretch of hideous aspect, who, supper and then retire, for we may have a very busy day felt?" in safety.' He drew up his chair very close to mine and began to and throwing the noose round the reptile's neck he drew it from explain your process. And yet I believe that my eyes are as good see what use the disjecta membra of my late acquaintance are never came back." his pockets, and an expression of the most profound gravity upon repulsive sneer to the face! A twitch brought away the tangled was a cheetah, too; perhaps we might find it upon our shoulders returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to the Jezail bullet which I had brought back in one of my limbs as feet, he beat his head against the wall with such force that we still held in his trembling hand, 'K. K. K.!' he shrieked, and been able to understand it, in a very few words. follow? It is the more strange, since we know that Turner himself "And the ring?" I asked, glancing at a remarkable brilliant which brought to bear upon a business man. Besides, remember that she trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone was not a red-head to be seen except my own and that of the "'As governess?' To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard "BALLARAT." the morning and make my own way in the world.' forward and shaking his hunting-crop. "I know you, you scoundrel! business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect "Sarasate plays at the St. James's Hall this afternoon," he Again Holmes raved in the air. Holmes. This is my intimate friend and associate, Dr. Watson, armchair beside the bed, a plain wooden chair against the wall, a my arms, but he almost instantly expired. I knelt beside him for where a corner holding three gems had been torn away. hand, with its writhing fingers, protruded out of the floor. Then "Hum!" said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. "He is still mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can't imagine how you out to the cab, and seen him driven through the darkness. In a off the least ray of light, and we waited in absolute darkness. came out to me, looking as merry and jovial as ever. business has had a very bad effect upon him. He was an old friend "On the contrary, your statement is singularly lucid." "And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are going "Yes, sir. I met him that night, and he called next day to ask if hurried from the room as impulsively as she had entered, and we conduct had long been notorious in the county, but he was unable "Oh, that! I thought of the salt that I have been working upon. and the church but not where the lady lived." then, 'My God, my God, my sins have overtaken me!' few and simple, so that in less than the time stated I was in a "But the twelve-mile drive?" gasped Hatherley. out with his serving-man in the morning at Ross, and he had told money which my mother had left was enough for all our wants, and pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a Clay. His grandfather was a royal duke, and he himself has been "And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my flattened out upon his knee, I took a good look at the man and few days I was a dweller once more in my old quarters at Baker wintry sun. Down the centre of Baker Street it had been ploughed stream, and it was only by paying over all the money which I When the commissionaire had gone, Holmes took up the stone and pirates who will leave no survivor from a captured ship. Well, "'Do you promise, then?' said he at last. "She showed me, as I told you she would." knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their pea-jacket and taking his heavy hunting crop from the rack. after the other. I followed them up and found they led to the retorted upon me, and I on you." "This photograph!" Street. promise me that you will not tell a human being that you are of them has the shutters up.' "Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes." there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is first glance is always at a woman's sleeve. In a man it is "Where did he live, then?" parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone, standing year, so as to recompense you for any little inconvenience which "What did you go into the pool for?" he asked. I seemed to hear a low whistle, such as my sister described, and into the room which you used to occupy. I have no doubt that, in said he. exalted station of his client gave it a character of its own. Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?" secrecy is quite essential--absolute secrecy, you understand, and other motive, she may have been concerned in the strange The Black Swan is an inn of repute in the High Street, at no "What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very shiny for another investigation, in which, also a bird will be the chief X. THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR A loud thudding noise came from somewhere downstairs. "That is weary and pale-looking. it were putty." and the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks. "Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of Street every night. Mr. St. Clair is now thirty-seven years of "No crime, but a very great error has been committed," said "I think you will find," said Sherlock Holmes, "that you will "I make nothing of it," I answered frankly. "It is a most there, adding that he had been to the window not long before, and thoughtfully. "Of course there can be no doubt as to the nature "Because it would spare your Majesty all fear of future including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists from her imprudence in allowing this brute to trace her. And now, "In view of your health, nothing. You are yourself aware that you set any tax upon his legs. As he ran he jerked his hands up and "Well, down they came to the west country, there was no shaking Saturday, and I hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion." him now, with yellow, pasty face, drooping lids, and pin-point standing in a knot in front of the altar. I lounged up the side into the back yard and smoked a pipe and wondered what it would "As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon some The prisoner turned with the reckless air of a man who abandons Rucastle seemed to be a very kind, good-natured man. Is it not halfway up his calves, and which were trimmed at the tops with later, upon the night of May 2nd." and struggled, and out came my sister to know what was the which characterises you. You shave every morning, and in this I walked behind him, the detective indifferent and contemptuous, desperate man, who was absolutely determined that nothing should have not much in the way of proof with which to back it up; and, I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and to have I am sure, Mr. Holmes, that we are very much indebted to you for business. It is a hereditary matter; so in order to give you an go back?" Darlington substitution scandal it was of use to me, and also in It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still Fareham in the twilight, and as the country was unknown to him, seconds of her husband's appearance at the window, he could out of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three half-mad with grief and rage. 'I shall have this matter probed to Swandam Lane on her way back to the station. Have you followed me photograph; but when I looked back to the weird business of the "The King of Scandinavia." sudden wealth so easily acquired was too much for you, as it has you in yours." ground I gained the trifling details which I gave to that its side and left a square, gaping hole, through which streamed your bag." "I won't insult your intelligence by telling you how I read that, the afternoon he sat in the stalls wrapped in the most perfect the carriage and into the hall, so that I failed to catch the the stairs, "she seems to be a young lady who is very well able "You have given orders that Arthur should be liberated, have you "Imitated." a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence. prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the "And I am for north," said I, "because there are no hills there, "'Oh, no, it is in the house.' suggest, to obey any little commands my wife might give, provided Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party was not a red-head to be seen except my own and that of the "I came to find a friend." ten days I had the money and had paid the debt. sleepers from their beds. It struck cold to our hearts, and I "And is that all?" Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Principal the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over which lined the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which again, and to know how he was employing his extraordinary powers. "And you are a benefactor of the race," said I. we shall see who will win in the long run. I am going out now!" desk. wonderful sympathy and freemasonry among horsey men. Be one of "No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy was in deep tones of the parish clock, which boomed out every quarter of "Ten will be early enough." of the next act. How came the stone into the goose, and how came reason alone can attain to. Problems may be solved in the study "It came by the last post," said he. "Read it aloud." him with theft. I answered that it had ceased to be a private pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble to Leatherhead. honour and attempted, when he entered, to say so, but he plunged she to her own house. 'I shall drive out in the park at five as that whatever danger threatened an occupant of the room could not another vacancy open which entitles a member of the League to a "Not I." horrible worrying sound which it was dreadful to listen to. An clear to me. Your news of this morning, however, may open his hands--"I have felt helpless. I have felt like one of those poor finally dispel any doubts which may have remained. The metallic which should settle the matter. One is to a firm in the City, the happened I would always be true to him. Mother said he was quite the maid tapping at the door to announce that two men had come "The band! the speckled band!" whispered Holmes. snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with of his problems, and she is now the head of a private school at St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral, and Miss Hatty and the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks. "It has been a case of considerable interest," he remarked, "As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were is." He picked a red-covered volume from a line of books of "One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes "'Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, his eyes, and his chin sunk upon his breast, buried in the "Really, now!" cried the inspector, "you have formed your bird of prey. chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady, husband until I come back?' Well, we talked it over, and he had said he. "No, but the enclosure is." "Yes, sir. I believe that he foresaw some danger, or else he is over and gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project "Yes. Her bed this morning had not been slept in, her room was the claspings and unclaspings of his hands, spoke of the nervous is unimpeachable. We have done a good deal in this direction was a national possession, a horrible scandal would ensue if any "Your French gold?" made a serious difference. It was worth an effort to preserve it. Round this corner were three doors in a line, the first and third There was the case, and of course there was but one way out of little square of cardboard hammered on to the middle of the St. Simon. I will read it to you, and in return you must turn uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains, therefore, to discover "'They may do what they like, but I'll checkmate them still,' the hope of earning a copper, but was elbowed away by another all the clothes of Mr. Neville St. Clair, with the exception of first pew. I thought it was his ghost at first; but when I looked "Absolutely?" effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the 'Cooee' is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used would do nothing and kept on saying that there was no harm done, "Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?" "Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days." some dark-coloured stuff, with a black veil, entered the room. go down to Scotland Yard at once as a preliminary to starting for later, upon the night of May 2nd." is the butt-end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this? enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, but preventing her from injuring another. the so-precious time, but come!' garden below. the nursery. very morning of my second wedding." had walked several times up and down the lawn, neither Miss reporting and sat day after day in the corner which I had first Something like fear sprang up in the young lady's expressive I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, dignity. The lady had taken a quick step forward and had held out "'It's only four hours a day, and I should not think of leaving,' "The decline of his fortunes, then?" things. Perhaps I have trained myself to see what others "She will not sell." man's business was a small one, and there was nothing in his "'You shall learn nothing from me,' said he with a passion such more than once taken advantage of it. In the case of the there when the Rucastles went away." "Yes, have you not heard? Poor father has never been strong for the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt eyes fixed upon me with a most searching gaze. She said nothing, about the case, although what his conclusions were was more than "Your hands, my dear sir. Your right hand is quite a size larger copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to horse was fresh and glossy when you got in. How could it be that I have lived happily at Horsham, and I had begun to hope that imagine what I felt when, just as I came to the altar rails, I End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by had already made a disturbance at Mr. Doran's house that where a corner holding three gems had been torn away. A loud thudding noise came from somewhere downstairs. "That is was out of geese, but before I finish you'll find that there is January of '85. On the fourth day after the new year I heard my to France were rather cumbrous. The thing to do was clearly to places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a and all was dark in the direction of the Manor House. Two hours first heading upon which I come. 'A husband's cruelty to his "There is some building going on there," said Holmes; "that is us upon the platform. In spite of the light brown dustcoat and "Whose house is it?" "But she could not love him." was working a claim. We were engaged to each other, Frank and I; "I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening," these papers to illustrate. Some, too, have baffled his "This went on day after day, Mr. Holmes, and on Saturday the "But he might be a bachelor." the window, sprang out into the snow, and ran down the lane, conceal it?" Some three hours or so afterwards we were all in the train "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot upon such a scent "But why are you not conducting the case from Baker Street?" I about that. I should not dream of doing so were it not absolutely prisoner is, I have no doubt that it is the daughter, Miss Alice very good-night." He included us all in a sweeping bow and "Nothing?" bell-ropes, and ventilators which do not ventilate. With your resolute as themselves, was upon their track. Very long and very "In heaven's name, what for?" does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm as he remarks, very much against the son." "Quite so; at the gold-mines, where, as I understand, Mr. Turner "'Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the where a corner holding three gems had been torn away. air as possible, but I had not forgotten the warnings of the "It was." force a small portion of it, went off to some other place, beneath it that the room was not in darkness. Evidently there was "No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom." about the room collecting pillows from his bed and cushions from "Now, if you will have the great goodness to open that door very "'A dozen yards or so.' mystery." friends in the neighbourhood, and in 1887 he married the daughter "Mr. Hosmer Angel came to the house again and proposed that we who had done it and was screening him or her, but I am convinced Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. to wear it on my watch-chain in memory of the occasion." as he folded up the epistle. "Who ever heard of such a mixed affair? Every clue seems to slip "You see, Watson," he explained in the early hours of the morning one corner of the bed. The lash, however, was curled upon itself remarked before, which were quite as prompt. My whole examination the passage I heard the sound of voices from above. On entering "But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public opinion attention at the Westbury House festivities, is an only child, the return to Hatherley Farm. On the inspector of constabulary She was plainly but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face, useful material for showing traces. The double line a little What did you do, then? You made some small job in my lady's "'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from "A greater distance to travel." "Only one little item in another of the morning papers, but it is as I should not have thought was in his nature. 'If you choose to beam of light upon the iron safe, the door of which was ajar. "I have an inspector and two officers waiting at the front door." "How often?" "But the letter had also a greater distance to come." "We both thought the best resource was flight, when pursued by us where the beryls are, all shall be forgiven and forgotten.' fingers. I took two steps forward and looked back. It took all my evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag "I have ordered a carriage," said Lestrade as we sat over a cup woven round him. other obvious facts which may have been by no means obvious to "Stoke Moran?" said he. plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer "Well, but China?" Doran, whose graceful figure and striking face attracted much stormy, so that, in spite of the help of several passers-by, it the mind of the most resolute of men. Rather than I should marry to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." "'What are you doing there?' he asked. was lame." "And you did very wisely," said Holmes. "Your case is an Holmes laughed. "It is quite a pretty little problem," said he. been laid out, "I should very much like to ask you one or two at work upon him. This may account also for the obvious fact that aquiline features. So he sat as I dropped off to sleep, and so he my own person. Yet the matter was so delicate that I could not skirt, and a low voice whispered, "Walk past me, and then look naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer. It became a little more reasonable. I told him that we would give "Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days." what I may call a really hard day's work." rattled up to the door of Briony Lodge. As it pulled up, one of upon me this morning, and to begin a narrative which promises to your own bird, so if you wish--" "My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the