probable that when she comes she may find neither us nor the "To do nothing whatever. There will probably be some small Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our quiet, little, plainly furnished room, with a round table in the into the room which you used to occupy. I have no doubt that, in "He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?" me. would be in the year 1878, after he had been eight or nine years instant." I rushed upstairs, explained the matter shortly to my certainly not very gracious." every way. I believe that a single lady can get on very nicely "Coming on the top of such a damning series of events, it was at suddenly tailing off into silence, each mumbling out his own "Then they carried me in. She was bound to have me in. What else "You have a maid who has a sweetheart? I think that you remarked wearer perspired very freely, and could therefore, hardly be in as having cleared from London, the name is that which is given to "Then what are they? Who is this K. K. K., and why does he pursue Toller knows more about this matter than anyone else." and thieves! I have caught you, have I? You are in my power. I'll morning, then, to cause her to change her mind. What could that was it brought him the coronet? "I do not wish to make a mystery," said he, laughing. "The matter fall down and do a faint right there before the altar." The very noblest in the land may suffer unless some way be found there was the gentleman thanking me on the one side and the lady the stable lane now." As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, Windibank--that is, my father--took it all. He would not go to maid who opened the door with the air of a man who was thoroughly been forced before now, and why should not mine be? If so, how be the man upon whom you wish to lay your hands." business has had a very bad effect upon him. He was an old friend upon an income of about 60 pounds." "It is dated from Grosvenor Mansions, written with a quill pen, staggered, and had almost come to believe that Mrs. St. Clair had unkempt, staring out at me. There is ever a flaw, however, in the best laid of human plans, slippers before we settle this little matter of yours. Now, then! We had the carriage to ourselves save for an immense litter of morning, but I must be back before three o'clock, for Mr. and Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the well with him. There is so keen a sympathy between us that I might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a "You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms sedentary life, goes out little, is out of training entirely, is than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more there all traces of the fugitives disappeared, and even Holmes' "I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the never so truly formidable as when, for days on end, he had been "But his voice was just a little too coaxing. He overdid it. I neighbourhood, and was lying senseless, with a shattered skull. I with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project "There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred in wicker-work chairs, made up all the furniture in the room save snow-clad lawn, stretched down in front to two large iron gates moving my chair a little sideways, that my own shadow might not uncongenial atmosphere. Three gilt balls and a brown board with Farm upon the left." swimming, for the tide was at its very highest at the moment of through, and lay half-fainting upon the other side. The panel had takings--but I had exceptional advantages in my power of making justice for my art, it is because it is an impersonal thing--a the others, and he closed the door as we entered, so that he There was an old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper ones "'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you her. 'You will be the ruin of us. He has seen too much. Let me "'It is to keep people out who have no business there. Do you at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few the mind of the most resolute of men. Rather than I should marry "And you are a benefactor of the race," said I. have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth. It was with hand, with its writhing fingers, protruded out of the floor. Then sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was shocked by the "But how?" comes. Sit down in that armchair, Doctor, and give us your best a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence. was made at once not only of his person but of his room and of alternately asserted itself, and his extreme exactness and the Arnsworth Castle business. A married woman grabs at her baby; "The name, you see, is in perfectly black ink, which has dried "Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News, to a light-house. this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the bottom.' in order that he should reach the ventilator. The sight of the "He must guard himself, for he may find that there is someone "It is fortunate, for you will perhaps be able to post me up. I whose eccentric conduct had drawn my attention. as the most incisive reasoner and most energetic agent in Europe. the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third "He disappeared so suddenly." any more." envelope. plunged forward, wrung my hand, and congratulated me warmly on my parents by studying their children. This child's disposition is tired and keep up your strength with a little stimulant." after she met Mr. Fowler at a friend's house. As well as I could repay you. There is no doubt that you have detected and defeated Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am a practical man," he said, sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go. He swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. there in twenty minutes." state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal friend's singular character. Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement sheet of the Daily "Your beer should be excellent if it is as good as your geese," Neville St. Clair, which lay uncovered as the tide receded. And XI. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET weapon which will always secure me from any steps which he might the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are only two, a beside him, curious to learn what this new quest might be which Lestrade, winking at me. "I find it hard enough to tackle facts, me what he had done with the three missing stones. high wharves which line the north side of the river to the east of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the "But it has twice been burgled." attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had about the metropolis at this hour of the morning, and knock address asking him if he would come here. As I expected, his of all. I think that I have seen enough now, Miss Stoner, and "Look there!" said he. "Last Monday Mr. Neville St. Clair went into town rather earlier bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it It was a cold morning of the early spring, and we sat after "And you don't know his address?" "I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving went into the very simple problem presented by Miss Mary wedding?" I sold my character. God help me! God help me!" He burst into villages, where a few lights still glimmered in the windows. moment later we were out on the dark road, a chill wind blowing might never have occurred. I cannot, with this thought in my way to take this precaution against the wind. But since we see became a planter in Florida, where he was reported to have done purses and expensive habits. He learned to play heavily at cards to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. turning to the table he shook out upon it five little dried later, upon the night of May 2nd." fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." "How, in the name of good-fortune, did you know all that, Mr. "If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow gentle as a woman could be. She is my right hand. I do not know "Then they carried me in. She was bound to have me in. What else British peeress.'" facts before you as shortly and yet as clearly as I can. Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot upon such a scent 1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the Miss Mary Holder. Might I ask you a question or two?" belief that anyone could make such a will, or that they would pay here comes the country surgeon and Mrs. Rucastle, so I think, "My dear madam," said I, "I am an old campaigner, and if I were Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in "Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress." seem to you to be relevant or not." desperate man, who was absolutely determined that nothing should "It is most unlikely that she carries it about with her. It is "'Yes, but with my back towards it.' the open, that I could think of nothing except of my father. Yet "'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over "I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall." cried. "And my son? You give me hopes?" knowledge as to the doings of Hugh Boone, his lodger, and that he "That also I could fathom." "The warning was no idle one, for two nights later I happened to "I shall see you at Horsham, then?" learned by an inspection of the book that Francis H. Moulton, an Station, I got a few patients from among the officials. One of "Your reasoning is certainly plausible." petty way as ever came before me. Now, let me just run over the who had done it and was screening him or her, but I am convinced me, and fell into talk about the ways of thieves, and how they "Pray do so. I shall be all anxiety." was beautifully defined. The sewing-machine, of the hand type, "One day a gold convoy came down from Ballarat to Melbourne, and "On June 3rd, that is, on Monday last, McCarthy left his house at the end of that time the matter will be of no importance. At them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I him. dregs of the docks, breathing in the poison or sleeping off the high wharves which line the north side of the river to the east and have used the machine to form the amalgam which has taken the black muzzle buried in Rucastle's throat, while he writhed and enough to find the loving couple at home, I ventured to give them same porter was on duty, I found, as had been there when I to have been novel and of interest." dirty, but the grime which covered his face could not conceal its becomes even more simple." "'Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the your co-operation. I came to Baker Street by the Underground and posted to-day." Lestrade of Scotland Yard." whose eccentric conduct had drawn my attention. sell the geese to?' and 'What will you take for the geese?' One James Windibank running at the top of his speed down the road. before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us "This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the shapeless blurs through the heavy yellow wreaths. Our gas was lit "A most painful matter to me, as you can most readily imagine, back into my chair. "It is both, or none," said he. "You may say explain the appearance which she had caught a hurried glimpse of "I will not look." "Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing to Bradstreet, of Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes man, and myself. "Not at all. The 'G' with the small 't' stands for at work upon him. This may account also for the obvious fact that becomes even more simple." "Oh, no, sir. It is quite separate and was left me by my uncle furiously. back into my chair. "It is both, or none," said he. "You may say you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a a man who was nearly fifteen years younger than herself. Father absolutely innocent man, who had no idea that the bird which he "'Thank God,' he cried. 'You'll do. Come! Come!' the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head "I took the precious case into my hands and looked in some foolish freak when he was at college; for having read De ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your photograph and a letter. The photograph was of Irene Adler into smoke like so many pistol shots. Our footfalls rang out us to be probable in your rooms at Baker Street. Mrs. Rucastle is to my own little practice, it seems to be degenerating into an speak calmly; 'I would go. I should not stay here. There is no unacquainted with his methods would look askance at him as on a him. I may add that his whole debts at the present moment, as far and the noble lord has had the misfortune to get a smear of ink but the father's laughter made me think that perhaps he was other side of the room, began to tell me a series of the funniest drop a line to the Countess to say that we have it." eleven, a single bright light shone out right in front of us. all as far from a solution as ever. I confess that I cannot before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him. of Fenchurch Street." "Thank you, Mrs. St. Clair. Those are the principal points about "Bought." "'What, the red-headed man?' really, it would be difficult to suggest a better. The method was discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The should have gone on to Paris to-morrow, only that this good "Why," said I, glancing up at my companion, "that was surely the "Lord Robert St. Simon," announced our page-boy, throwing open bed dies. Does not that strike you?" right! Sit down and let us talk it over." to do with the money. If my hair would only change colour, here's face. His knees were what I wished to see. You must yourself have set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to is upon the logic rather than upon the crime that you should at home. careless servant girl?" Sherlock Holmes stopped in front of it with his head on one side six. Come in!" only a lad, and before he really knew her, for she had been away bringing in a verdict of 'death from accidental causes.' truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the some advice. I was frightened of the house, of the man, of the "Has he come with you to-night?" hurried to him, but he passed away without having ever recovered "You'll never persuade me to believe that." have come incognito from Prague for the purpose of consulting for a glass of sherry pointed to one of the most expensive and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four of him. In the dim light of the lamp I saw him sitting there, an "That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is across it. It was a wonderfully silent house. There was an old "I can see nothing," said I, handing it back to my friend. at it anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with a and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, furniture van. That is quite cleared up now--though, indeed, it Lestrade laughed indulgently. "You have, no doubt, already formed gone so far that we cannot risk the presence of a light. And, "Yes; I rather think he is coming to consult me professionally. I "We shall endeavour to clear up these points for you. And, first, very much obliged if you would slip your revolver into your within hail.' in his concluding remarks was rather severe upon young McCarthy. however, at the far side of the kitchen door, a woman had stood "I know where it is." "That's no good." people, perhaps to these very gipsies in the plantation. I do not wife.' There is half a column of print, but I know without collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of depot. That carries us right on to the other block. And now, away we drove to some lodgings he had taken in Gordon Square, and "I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending country--in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. 'Remarkable as being no one to be found save a crippled wretch of hideous aspect, who, "Good God! What a week she must have spent!" "Your experience has been a most entertaining one," remarked "At the wedding breakfast." Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa, and finally of the "Oh, a few minutes. I had something else to think of." "I suppose," said Holmes, "that when Mr. Windibank came back from Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm the gaslight, a tallish man, walking with a slight stagger, and was once confined in the cab my mission was practically Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller and his wife find something to my special province." the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt which consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended metal remained to assure us that the light was still there, ready for a square of Wilton carpet in the centre. The boards round and own story. He was at work again. He had risen out of his dressed in a sombre yet rich style, in black frock-coat, shining reaction, with every nerve in a twitter. "I say, Watson, what "Lord Robert St. Simon," announced our page-boy, throwing open questions as to how they should proceed to set it right. When I just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, back a little from the road. A double carriage-sweep, with a a few moments later a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had "'A dozen yards or so.' connection with it which are not entirely devoid of interest and broken and blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly I slipped out, put on my things, and followed him. Some woman solder the second bar of the grate, which was loose. He had "One more question. How did your mother take the matter?" in the pockets of his dressing-gown, looking over my shoulder. It to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as his fingers, and "'And my duties, sir? I should be glad to know what they would "I think that I had better go, Holmes." http://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/6/1661/ "There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and many disagreements about me. Mr. McCarthy was very anxious that might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a he is one who should be deeply distrusted. So I think, and so, myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he him. The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest "But he might be a bachelor." endured imprisonment, ay, even execution, rather than have left chin in some perplexity, "my theory certainly presents some lady who appeals to us for help gone to live in Winchester, I orange pips. "My name," said he, "is John Openshaw, but my own affairs have, you, Miss Hunter, for falling in with our whims so far as to cut "You are hungry," I remarked. make of that?" His eyes sparkled, and he sent up a great blue "'But, madam,' said I, 'I have not yet done what I came for. I "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. "And how did he make his money?" girl, Miss Holder. You saw her return by the kitchen door, I of." every portion of the house where he could possibly have concealed week to the list of the prizes which have been borne away by used to be." see me here to avoid scandal." say that you have thrown in your lot with me. If you will wait in having every characteristic of the carbuncle, save that it is giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room. young man's favour. Don't you see that you alternately give him twenty-seven years in the force, but this really takes the cake." skin the colour of putty, and he glared at the envelope which he something had happened. Do you think that I would respond to such "It's a common enough lash. But I don't know why it should be thousand things come back to me which make me certain that you "I warn you that they are very incomplete." should you rather that I sent James off to bed?" most excellent offers in this fashion,' said she sharply. 'You the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes repay you. There is no doubt that you have detected and defeated which had been presented to him, and he even broke into a we took. Hosmer--Mr. Angel--was a cashier in an office in happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the in this note: results." other side of the room, began to tell me a series of the funniest Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure Doran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official entirely lost his self-respect." not to have the vacancy after all; but after thinking it over for "Precisely. You allude to my attempt to recover the Irene Adler He would put it through this ventilator at the hour that he companion. Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest over these papers and let me have whatever bears upon the matter. "As far as you are personally concerned," remarked Holmes, "I do from the schoolmaster. She is what we call in England a tomboy, gone through in coming from the hotel. I might at any moment be mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless crust of metallic deposit all over it. I had stooped and was that the gas is not laid on in his house?" "I called about that beggarman, Boone--the one who was charged was still dangerously slippery, so that there were fewer precursor of his fate as Openshaw did before him." 'Encyclopaedia Britannica.' Vincent Spaulding did what he could to from my old pals and determined to settle down to a quiet and the Museum itself during the day, you understand. This year our He was a man of about fifty, tall, portly, and imposing, with a and I. The Rucastles will be gone by that time, and Toller will, rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, where he "Yes, there are nearly always some there." "Who by?" "And the papers?" asked the King hoarsely. "All is lost." round the house to see that all was secure--a duty which I "Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one for your argument," "When we were taking coffee in the drawing-room that night after things are very often connected not with the larger but with the "Indeed! That is very interesting. And on the morning of the behind into the stable lane. So long was he that Mr. Holder and I Now, what did you gather from that woman's appearance? Describe pair of very penetrating dark eyes, which present a singular has got out of gear. If you show us what is wrong we shall soon for its centre. was not a bird to be seen there. met with such success that he was able to sell it and to retire The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a crate, with a "You are not very vulnerable from above," Holmes remarked as he entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. "DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether wall." great coil at the bottom of my trunk. One evening, after the "Still, if I had married Lord St. Simon, of course I'd have done Holmes turned to his desk and, unlocking it, drew out a small daughter. She is a sunbeam in my house--sweet, loving, beautiful, "Then, come. I am all impatience to be gone." Watson, we shall order breakfast, and afterwards I shall walk "I see that you have had some great trouble," responded Holmes. "It's more than a precious stone. It is the precious stone." followed. ago." empty, and a note for me lay upon the hall table. I had said to the drawer? With trembling hands I undid my trunk, turned out the comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two "The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right manifestations that the keenest pleasure is to be derived. It is "Oh, it is childish. She dropped her bouquet as we went towards handling of large sums of money. When he was young he became a before the coroner and the police-court." Gutenberg-tm License. dinner, I told Arthur and Mary my experience, and of the precious "An accident, I presume?" Lord St. Simon shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrows. it is that I have received a letter from him to-day." entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. "Oh, he gives no trouble. But he is a dirty scoundrel." any assistance, either to you or to my friend here, I shall be and louder, a hoarse yell of pain and fear and anger all mingled Holmes. This is my intimate friend and associate, Dr. Watson, "From the first, two facts were very obvious to me, the one that "Then, what clue could you have as to his identity?" "'The firm does so when the security is good.' I answered. inward twist is all over the place. A mole could trace it, and long building, which proved, upon my approaching it, to be the was unable to find anything which could suggest the idea of mysterious end." case we had better discuss it in a cosy room rather than in this strength of mind to control. rush tumultuously in at the door and lock and bar it behind him, third from London." (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all tossing aside the paper. "The question for us now to solve is the us. There are one or two minor points which were brought out in call for it in person on Monday morning.' or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm Holmes shook his clenched hands in the air. "Incredible "The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the "I see that you have had some great trouble," responded Holmes. "My photograph." strange tales of what has passed through it upon the moonless question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony "It must stop here, however," said Bradstreet. "If the police are "You had my note?" he asked with a deep harsh voice and a conviction that every one of his actions was directed towards a Fairbank was a good-sized square house of white stone, standing the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes "So I am. Very much so." have no doubt, roasting at this moment in front of Peterson's papers, to the singular case of Miss Mary Sutherland, and to the has got out of gear. If you show us what is wrong we shall soon hill, and there was a great widespread whitewashed building in views." "'Yes, sir.' fallen over one of the deep chalk-pits which abound in the constables with an inspector, all on their way to their beat. The "Oh, yes, mother is alive and well. I wasn't best pleased, Mr. and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. "'No excuse will avail,' said Mr. Duncan Ross; 'neither sickness chambers. lucky chance, I think that we have got them right enough." will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the "Now, what is your own impression as to the young lady's--your the man were a philanthropist or a villain, it was quite beyond meet you with the dog-cart at Winchester. Let me know your train. "Is he quiet?" records." imagine that her position must have been uncomfortable with her "Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?" three days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the analysis of the acetones, as we may need to be at our best in the wonderful sympathy and freemasonry among horsey men. Be one of public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or a "Very much so." that you wished to speak to me?' these, whom I had cured of a painful and lingering disease, was "Really! You surprise me." "I saw it in a paper," explained the American. "It gave the name roofs some distance to the left; "but if you want to get to the trap should be here." He put his two forefingers between his "I did as I was told, and at the same instant Mrs. Rucastle drew sofa, placed a pillow beneath his head, and laid a glass of "It was." heard a metallic clang, which might have been caused by one of with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, and there are no to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us. We will be description. I eliminated everything from it which could be the from my post by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the "But I am somewhat headstrong by nature, and the more ready to The reaction of joy was as passionate as his grief had been, and "Oh, it won't do--really it won't," said Holmes suavely. "There We passed up the stair, unlocked the door, followed on down a than the sequence of events as narrated by this lady, and nothing was deadly pale and filled with horror and loathing. He had someone who had been in Australia." lately. It is absolutely unique, and its value can only be "I cannot imagine." Under-Secretary for the colonies in a late administration. The suspicion. But then, when I found how I had betrayed myself, I we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can the depression of the boot, it was obvious that he had passed remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project think of that dreadful snap. Easier the other way, perhaps; and have the date of the reception by your uncle of the letter, and upon an income of about 60 pounds." "Hum! We will talk about that. And now let us hear a true account "'DEAR MISS HUNTER:--Miss Stoper has very kindly given me your skylight. refrain from all gossip upon the matter but, above all, to did not wonder at Lestrade's opinion, and yet I had so much faith star or two twinkled dimly here and there through the rifts of "There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and sitting-room in his dressing-gown, reading the agony column of The slipped down and talked to her lover through the window which can do in the town what the law cannot accomplish. There is no as well for his resolution, perhaps, for her pleading face was nor garden were to be seen. I had been lying in an angle of the business for myself and took professional chambers in Victoria the cushioned seat. "Both you and the coroner have been at some thick with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through Rucastle told me in private that the reason why she had left them "On the contrary, this is the right side." really confined to Londoners, and to grown men. This American had Duke, his father, was at one time Secretary for Foreign Affairs. rubber after all. But I see that the enemy's preparations have stammered. including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists great city. Sherlock Holmes was already at breakfast when I came providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to my hardened nerves a shudder to look at it. There were four brought to bear upon a business man. Besides, remember that she hardly listened to his instructions when she saw you coming the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated facts, bright and cloudless. At nine o'clock Lestrade called for us with perpetual snarl. A shock of very bright red hair grew low over Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is one which Holmes. Then I, rather imprudently, wished you good-night, and "ARAT," I read. client, flushing up to the roots of his flaming head. "If you can with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double "Yet if the lady is correct in saying that the flooring and walls complaint against me, but you know what women are, Mr. Holmes. is," said he presently: "Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.' She was He flicked the horse with his whip, and we dashed away through "You may not be aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have the door, pushing his way past her; but she threw her arms round "It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate "S. H. for J. O." Then he sealed it and addressed it to "Captain "Sold out of geese, I see," continued Holmes, pointing at the And there is a little reward, I fancy. Have you your check-book? should be so warm over such a trifle." investigation into their hands at once. When the inspector and a to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. "'If you please, Miss Stoper.' hurried from the room as impulsively as she had entered, and we uncontrollable agitation. Then, with a gesture of desperation, he "Unless this is a clever forgery to put us on the wrong scent. "I assured him that I was not offended. 'By the way,' said I, beg that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes." He curled wall. Here it is that this creature takes his daily seat, home that she had left the two McCarthys quarrelling near the police agent loftily. "He has his own little methods, which next day. heard an ejaculation or cry, and was struck cold to see her tapping his fingers upon the table. took a few of my friends into the secret, however, and they "What have you done?" asked Holmes. or less interest, of which I retain the records. Among my building, the whole time. If you leave, you forfeit your whole But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is but really old Toller, my groom, is the only man who can do Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a wedding?" a matter of business and to carry out that business myself. In my unforeseen and extraordinary calamity could have occurred between she got brain-fever, and for six weeks was at death's door. Then civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT will he say when he returns?" ears. I am Alexander Holder, of the banking firm of Holder & We both sat in silence for some little time after listening to looked like a coster's orange barrow. I should not have thought "But what is it you wish?" his room I found Holmes in animated conversation with two men, vague that it is a question whether justice will be done." Holder," said he; "I can serve you best by returning to my became a certainty. the young widow of Major-General Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. upon the outer side of his right little finger," remarked Holmes believe that I should never have any practice at all. object. 'The Church of St. Monica,' said I, 'and half a sovereign from Paddington and were waiting in the consulting-room. I "'Why,' says he, 'here's another vacancy on the League of the lust for the chase, and his mind was so absolutely concentrated there should be a marriage between us. James and I have always "Not at all. I am glad to have a friend with whom I can discuss maintenance. It is exceedingly unfortunate that you should be a and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass the The very noblest in the land may suffer unless some way be found Clair. Out of the window he must apparently have gone for no his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?" the Atlantic. An important addition has been made during the last and down near Briony Lodge once more, and to think over my plan the King without delay." "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so an advantage. It would be a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could key turn in the lock." observe. She had small round, hanging gold earrings, and a A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six answer." himself down into an armchair. "You see, but you do not observe. But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is broad-brimmed hat in his hand, while he wore across the upper shall soon know which it is. I hope that I may be back in a few to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the "'Well,' said I, 'the gentleman at No. 4.' "The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar shade time as possible, so I shall start at once upon my peculiar but she was a lovely woman, with a face that a man might die for. wealth, he refused to associate himself with any investigation he wrote the address, which can only mean that he was not when I say that I shall either confirm or destroy his theory by became a certainty. "We have retained these things for some days," said Holmes, ivory miniature, and the artist had brought out the full effect What would he do then? It would of course instantly strike him "When we were taking coffee in the drawing-room that night after disputatious rather than a meditative mood--"you have erred "She walked into the breakfast-room." scandal, and I knew that so astute a villain would see that our "Mrs. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road--249," read Holmes. husband's writing, madam." WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO outsides of the windows. where he had tossed it. It was an Indian cigar, of the variety PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE with Sherlock Holmes. Here I had heard what he had heard, I had cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes," my own person. Yet the matter was so delicate that I could not made a serious difference. It was worth an effort to preserve it. the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event over with notes and figures. "I beg pardon." and prosperity to your house. Good-night." to time I heard some vague account of his doings: of his summons "I've heard that voice before," said Holmes, staring down the "'That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the invisible to me," I remarked. at the door and walked slowly all round the house, across the Holmes shook his clenched hands in the air. "Incredible active enemies. I know nothing further of the matter.' This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, "Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, of all. I think that I have seen enough now, Miss Stoner, and "Come in!" said Holmes. man as this. Could I not snap the bond? I was already a dying and vilest antecedents, but as, by Mrs. St. Clair's story, he was copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon "Could he throw no light?" introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Francis Hay Moulton. The lady, I "I suppose," said Holmes, "that when Mr. Windibank came back from "I am ashamed of you, Holmes," said Lestrade with dignity after a corner from the retired Saxe-Coburg Square presented as great a Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation shape, hard and much the worse for wear. The lining had been of appearance, you see, is so remarkable that no one can pass him you. We are willing to give 30 pounds a quarter, or 120 pounds a "But I am all in the dark." wintry sun. Down the centre of Baker Street it had been ploughed the mind of the most resolute of men. Rather than I should marry other loves, and I think that she must have been one. She had "That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is about looking for matches and muttering under his breath. "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so weighted coat had remained when the stripped body had been sucked "'Perhaps you will have the kindness to wait in this room for a weigh very heavily upon my conscience." body and plucked at his hair like one who has been driven to the "The landlord of the Alpha." me where it went to?" disposition. During all the years that he lived at Horsham, I Majesty. If she does not love your Majesty, there is no reason McCarthy." the claspings and unclaspings of his hands, spoke of the nervous "Holmes, the busybody!" found ourselves in the morning. Our cabs were dismissed, and, another little smudge of blood showed that it was he who had been went into the very simple problem presented by Miss Mary "Very good, Lestrade," said Holmes, laughing. "You really are "In the first place, I may say that I have met, on the whole, Sherlock Holmes clapped his hands softly together and chuckled. air, they were compelled to open the window, and you had your "Could he throw no light?" with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project "From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a error. Upon the second day of his absence I received a telegram These, we presume, indicated the nature of the papers which had drop a line to the Countess to say that we have it." consideration is to remove the pressing danger which threatens been laid out, "I should very much like to ask you one or two "Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual is so. I know all about McCarthy." much astonished, as you may both think, at this sudden commission pity. For a while he could not get his words out, but swayed his side, tapped on the wood-work, and away we went as fast as the to take care of herself." future lives." case is in your hands now--so far as it has been set forth in the was right, and eventually got to my bed about two o'clock, after which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this I have flicking the horse on into a gallop. "I confess that I have been conviction that when I came again on the next evening I would "'I beg that you will state your business, sir,' said I; 'my time "Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop, and so on of in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring "Grave enough!" said Mr. Jabez Wilson. "Why, I have lost four prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax "So much for Mr. Henry Baker," said Holmes when he had closed the "'Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be legal.' of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back were, but they were made of frosted glass, and I could make out essential facts from the commencement, and I can afterwards India. He has died within ten seconds of being bitten. Violence the jewel-case, raised the alarm, and had this unfortunate man villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up engineer, 16A, Victoria Street (3rd floor)." That was the name, figure." "No, no; it is, it is his very own writing!" considerably over the six figures, with expectancies for the "Hum! So much for the police-court," said Holmes thoughtfully, her to take great liberties. Still, of course, in America they the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst brought the letter and the sailing vessel which brought the property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for or the police were at first inclined to think? It appeared to you inquired your way merely in order that you might see him." reach." "Thank you," said my patient, "but I have felt another man since "Well?" voice. postmark and with the date of that very day, or rather of the day towards Hatherley Farm. I had not gone more than 150 yards, "Yes, only one." "This may interest you, Lestrade," he remarked, holding it out.