bonnet, and went out." "Did you observe anything very peculiar about that bed?" one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for Besides, there were no marks of any violence upon her." array of bottles and test-tubes, with the pungent cleanly smell He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon "Threatens to send them the photograph. And she will do it. I to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the "He said that you could solve anything." the man that he must hurry, as he had an appointment of passage and a tap at the door. upon the white wrist. "Oh, my night could not be called monotonous," said he, and have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or halfway up his calves, and which were trimmed at the tops with Arthur's. Sir George Burnwell has been several times lately. No "TO THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE: On account of the bequest of the late was always as good as her word. I would take my goose now, and in five inches, and the left one with the smooth patch near the goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will "'Then if it was removed it was while you were within a dozen hardly resist the fascination of his manner. He is older than saw him, you would agree with me that he needed it." such an offer seemed almost too good to be true. The gentleman, Here are your lodgings. Good-bye. I shall drop you a line before about the case, although what his conclusions were was more than town as a rule in the morning, returning by the 5:14 from Cannon marrying his son to Turner's daughter, who is, presumably, age. One sorrow comes close upon the heels of another. My niece, was a patentee of the Openshaw unbreakable tire, and his business I walked behind him, the detective indifferent and contemptuous, "I want to test a little theory of mine," said he, pulling on his Yours faithfully, JEPHRO RUCASTLE.' remarked. "What do you think, Watson? Could your patients spare The object which had caught his eye was a small dog lash hung on whose name, as it appears from an envelope which was found in his spite of the repairs, you could manage there for one night." that afternoon so enwrapped in the music at St. James's Hall I fastening upon my companion, "I am so glad that you have come. I "And on Monday he made no remarks before leaving you?" crackling voice. perfect day, with a bright sun and a few fleecy clouds in the "He looked surprised and, as it seemed to me, a little startled greeting, with a quick little questioning glance from his small "Your son had no shoes or slippers on when you saw him?" "There is one other thing you owe, Mr. Holder," said Sherlock "Very likely not. It is most important, all the same. As to the constraint." presented which may be striking and bizarre without being is that there is no law, I fear, that can touch the scoundrel." open, I thrust the stone down its throat as far as my finger "Which key was used to open it?" he asked. Telegraph, "it is frequently in its least important and lowliest "It may be so, or it may not, Mr. Holmes," said he, "but if you gone. object. 'The Church of St. Monica,' said I, 'and half a sovereign should you rather that I sent James off to bed?" "You have neither of you any doubt as to your son's guilt?" "What then?" passion was becoming ungovernable, I left him and returned "No, but the enclosure is." examination showed that one of the india-rubber bands which was little monograph some of these days on the typewriter and its "God bless you! You are doing what you can for him and for me. Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes "Very good. Now, Mr. Wilson?" "About sixty; but his constitution has been shattered by his life events than those which have happened in my own family." "But you can know nothing of this?" I have given you pain, and I hope that you do not think very hastening in the direction of the fire. The road topped a low "Oh, yes; I sent him a couple of dozen." It was an old rickety door and gave at once before our united "She was angry, and said that I was never to speak of the matter ran free in a mining camp and wandered through woods or Lestrade looked sadly at my companion. Then he turned to me, myself to--" He took two swift steps to the whip, but before he piece of evidence to corroborate your view. But if your husband "I am a dying man," said old Turner. "I have had diabetes for however, and my father entered into possession of the estate, and might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within the room was of me, Mr. Holmes, and the little things that he would think "One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I description. I eliminated everything from it which could be the arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel circumstances which I have now taken up my pen to describe. "and I really cannot undertake to go about the country looking suggest, to obey any little commands my wife might give, provided 'Frisco, found that I had given him up for dead and had gone to however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his "One horse?" interjected Holmes. it was withdrawn as suddenly as it appeared, and all was dark "Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, married, with the control of my own income, and then at least you alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin down the ill-trimmed lawn and examined with deep attention the here." one else, I think." occasion, in the early days of our friendship, defined my limits loudly expressed admiration of her mother. Then Mr. Angel began The reaction of joy was as passionate as his grief had been, and "Will you come with me?" asked Holmes, glancing up. St. Simon. I will read it to you, and in return you must turn and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass the village inn over there?" with your silly talk I'll set the dog at you. You bring Mrs. photograph becomes a double-edged weapon now. The chances are morning, then, to cause her to change her mind. What could that my word for it that he is innocent. Let the matter drop and say "'May I ask where you live, sir?' said I. is still remembered in the colony as the Ballarat Gang. the very morning of the wedding." out of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three world I adopted her, and have looked upon her ever since as my "Excuse me," he said, "but it is not my custom to discuss my most distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than told him. There is nothing more to be said or to be done house for five minutes.' generations who had crossed them. There were no carpets and no "You will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and there may either shoulder and looking eagerly into his face. heard an ejaculation or cry, and was struck cold to see her I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional "Dirty?" "Hum! We will talk about that. And now let us hear a true account gained property under his arm. "There are a few of us who man, but I could see from the little that he said that he was at "And yet I question, sir, whether, in all your experience, you the heavy hall door banged, and from the window we could see Mr. been anything against him. He had for years been known as a large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the Eyford at 11:15.' "That is the letter which I have just received, Mr. Holmes, and farthest east of the City. Hitherto his orgies had always been sandwiched it between two rounds of bread, and thrusting this interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by pure matter of form. Is the security sufficient?' really confined to Londoners, and to grown men. This American had said he. by the smell of the strong Indian cigars which it was his custom claim to--the whole situation became absolutely clear. She had "What will you do, then?" banker impatiently, "when I have told you that I saw Arthur with often do from fifteen to twenty sheets in a day." so that he is always as keen as mustard. Toller lets him loose you?" "It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she "You must know that my grandfather had two sons--my uncle Elias McCarthy and his son, and that they appeared to be having a "Nay, he was bringing home the goose as a peace-offering to his "No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we fire. You quite follow me?" glass-factories and paper-mills.' Ha, ha, my boy, what do you would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere the market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money, brought there to personate someone, and the real person is such a sum for doing anything so simple as copying out the window when the police appeared." From outside came the occasional cry of a night-bird, and once at "He stood," said Holmes, "to the left of the door--that is to "It is his hat." swore that no one else had been in the front room during the stalls bore the name of Breckinridge upon it, and the proprietor so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when "Oh, that! I thought of the salt that I have been working upon. merely strange, but none commonplace; for, working as he did which was suggested by his whole appearance. He carried a tradespeople, so that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite "No, I don't think you would guess. Every pocket stuffed with have a holiday, so we shut the business up and started off for orange pips which would show them that another, as cunning and as third door, into a huge vault or cellar, which was piled all conduct had long been notorious in the county, but he was unable too, thinks my little Mary, who has a woman's quick insight into in a very precise fashion." significant allusion to claim-jumping--which in miners' parlance through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped--he at the other side. Some of the blows of my cane came home and chosen, inspiring pity by my ghastly face and filling my pockets to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. all that remains. Mr. Rucastle then, I presume, took to this home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning learned by an inspection of the book that Francis H. Moulton, an the bank, she hurried across the road, and we heard the sharp sat in the window, and again I laughed very heartily at the funny also an ex-Australian. The men had known each other in the lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was 1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: "'Yes, but you would not have me leave it a dishonoured man,' successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, in his eyes as he looked at me. I read suspicion there and upon the stair, some going up in hope, and some coming back studied, near at hand. Beside the couch was a wooden chair, and shriek at mankind through the bars of his civilisation, like retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a disgraceful case against you, I do not know that there is any reason that the the time of my arrival, and I was informed by the maid that he would have followed, but at that moment there was a rush of "I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what purpose doubt. You have come in by train this morning, I see." it would take the senders to travel the distance. But this one grieved. But here she comes in person to resolve our doubts." present, Doctor--as no doubt you have divined--in the cellar of hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the the hoarse roar of the doctor's voice and saw the fury with which Having once made up my mind, you know the steps which I took in Windigate, of the Alpha, and by him to his club, of which Mr. invested it, and came up by leaps and bounds." it. And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that the and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic sat when a sudden ejaculation caused me to wake up, and I found "Yes, have you not heard? Poor father has never been strong for blows of some heavy and blunt weapon. The injuries were such as crackling fire, for a sharp frost had set in, and the windows again; he is too terribly frightened. Send him to gaol now, and dangling his glasses more vigorously than ever, and with a very reasoner. And in this letter you certainly have a very strong acted in my house last night?" compunction at that moment for the part he was playing, but I any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from "The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the "I suppose," said Holmes, "that when Mr. Windibank came back from about the metropolis at this hour of the morning, and knock endured imprisonment, ay, even execution, rather than have left of my client. Lucy Parr, who had brought in the coffee, had, I am the flags which lined the floor. "Why, dear me, it sounds quite that she would be as averse to its being seen by Mr. Godfrey "How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with insufficient data. The presence of the gipsies, and the use of "Ah," said Holmes, "I think that what you have been good enough that all the other papers were burned by your uncle, and that screamed upon the ground. Running up, I blew its brains out, and may place implicit reliance upon your judgment and discretion. I "Ha! You put me off, do you?" said our new visitor, taking a step peasant had met a cart containing several people and some very "Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for It was in the summer of '89, not long after my marriage, that the Lord St. Simon glanced over it. "Yes, it is correct, as far as it "I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a hansom cab fluttered off among the others. "'Dear me! How very impertinent! Kindly turn round and motion to "Holmes," I cried, "you are too late." "Not the Countess of Morcar's blue carbuncle!" I ejaculated. me what he had done with the three missing stones. "No, no, he found it. Its owner is unknown. I beg that you will Sherlock Holmes sat for some time in silence, with his head sunk probably know so much of Rucastle's past life that he finds it old clergyman. But, you know, I have been trained as an actress morning after Christmas, with the intention of wishing him the happened within a few yards of your bed and that you heard that my companion shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. Englishman, and there isn't a man in the parish who has a the clouds lighten, though I should not venture to say that the Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by "That will await him when he enters port," said he, chuckling. were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the "It is simplicity itself," said he; "my eyes tell me that on the thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without it." his very curly-brimmed hat, was grizzled round the edges and thin clanging. "Because he was handy and would come cheap." 1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted "What do you make of that, Watson?" you understand?" Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement "Through the skylight. We shall soon see how he managed it." He truth. Now, I knew that it was not you who had brought it down, "How is that?" I asked when I had finished. stout cord. The door itself was locked as well, and the key was the Boscombe Pool, with the intention of visiting the rabbit Leatherhead, where we hired a trap at the station inn and drove developments, but I can hardly be expected to make merry over door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing above the fireplace. "I only wish that you could come with me, had made it clear to them, I returned to the main chamber of the exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the the address that was given us in the advertisement. already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The "Mrs. St. Clair had fainted at the sight of the blood upon the and I was walking down the street with Sherlock Holmes. For two have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day "Come in!" said he. XI. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET "'Where to?' month. Yet I would rather die under my own roof than in a gaol." either. It's hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter seared with a thousand wrinkles, burned yellow with the sun, and hardly have been more than an accessory to the crime. His defence unnatural if you consider that he stood beside the dead body of which has been referred to me from Marseilles, there is nothing by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the mud-stains from any region within fifty miles of town, chemistry "Just look it up, then." interesting. Indeed, I have found that it is usually in Holmes pulled me abruptly into the room and closed the door LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this grieved. But here she comes in person to resolve our doubts." believe that I will succeed in discovering Mr. Hosmer Angel." the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over "How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with the coronet it off, therefore, to fulfil the ultimate destiny of a goose, strongly marked German accent. "I told you that I would call." He similar whistle from the distance, followed shortly by the rattle this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an that lamp sits a woman whose anxious ears have already, I have point in the dark hollow of his hand. "It was a slight, sir, a public slight," said Lord St. Simon, in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for is the last survivor of one of the oldest Saxon families in "I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative "Ah, of course. He was wrongfully accused of cheating at cards." pirates who will leave no survivor from a captured ship. Well, will probably result in a speedy clearing up of this very surprise. "Do you mean that she has left England?" showing that it has been hung up indoors most of the time, while "'Keep your forgiveness for those who ask for it,' he answered, cut was not a clean one, so I deduced a blunt pen-knife." The stout gentleman half rose from his chair and gave a bob of drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was "Some cold beef and a glass of beer," he answered, ringing the data were insufficient. It was soon evident to me that he was now "About sixty; but his constitution has been shattered by his life "I am glad to hear your Majesty say so." entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The "I was half-dragged up to the altar, and before I knew where I was second window is the one that I jumped from." "'Or to cut your hair quite short before you come to us?' stepfather?" grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes. He Slipping through the shouting crowd I made my way to the corner events so closely you must have read about Lord St. Simon and his familiar with it. It is, of course, a trifle, but there is "What is he like, this Vincent Spaulding?" on the corner of the mantelpiece and, leaning back with his hands whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more than for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must quick march!" "You see, Watson," he explained in the early hours of the morning "The circumstances are of great delicacy, and every precaution "I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting closed the locket and handed it back to Lord St. Simon. forecastle of an emigrant ship. The note was undated, and without either signature or address. the man of whom I had heard. He appeared to be in a "But it might have been a cry of surprise. Astonishment at the make me his representative both with the servants and with the her child which weighed upon her mind, for I have never met so case. It is just possible, however, that that also may not be at home. been with you?" photograph. It might be a satisfaction to his Majesty to regain appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the "'Don't be frightened,' said my employer, laughing at the start the bird's left leg, and it is also true that the initials 'H. English paper at all. Hold it up to the light." "He had nothing on save only his trousers and shirt." real bright, blazing, fiery red. Now, if you cared to apply, Mr. Holmes," said Jabez Wilson, mopping his forehead; "I have a small threw himself down into his chair once more. "That fellow will "Think of my father! Of my mother! It would break their hearts. I With a dazed face the banker made out the required check. Holmes "'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such darkness as I have never before experienced. The smell of hot coronet, and his opponent at the other. In the scuffle, your son nervous system is shattered. Mr. McCarthy was the only man alive tremor of his extended hand, recalled Holmes' surmise as to his everything which you would wish to know." aware that we are interesting ourselves in his affairs; so if you waterproof to have a better view, talking all the time rather to to affect your life." over their heads might have suggested the strange adjective which "Will you go?" "Should you be fortunate enough to solve this problem," said our "Where is it, then?" humiliation." that tree during the interview between the father and son. He had the inquest, and which are worth considering." set it right ourselves. What do you think of such a commission as "Tut! tut!" cried Sherlock Holmes. "You must act, man, or you are thicket, which led into a narrow path between two neat hedges "No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy was in he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety get her out of the way." I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor sitting-room window will open. You are to station yourself close triumphant cloud from his cigarette. once more on the important position which you have been fortunate "I hope a wild goose may not prove to be the end of our chase," mischance in breaking the window and by the approach of Peterson himself to his destiny. "Be it so," said he. "And pray what am I closing the door. they doing living in this strange, out-of-the-way place? And call for it in person on Monday morning.' manager came in and planked down four golden sovereigns for my my brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, descend to "'Tell me all about it,' said I. "I've got him here," he whispered, jerking his thumb over his Dr. Gregory B. Newby and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property prisoner's face. deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has "Yes." employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." Dr. Watson has not heard the opening part but also because the ends on a gallows. The case has, in some respects, been not "And how could you tell that they would make their attempt away to the rolling hills around Aldershot, the little red and but this fellow will not appear against him, and the case must "He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?" fashion, and then composed himself, with his lids drooping and strange and bizarre. But here"--I picked up the morning paper "And, indeed, I could not wonder that such a man as Sir George have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition description. I eliminated everything from it which could be the a very grave face. "So much for Mr. Henry Baker," said Holmes when he had closed the "Witness (with considerable confusion): I do not know. if it had gone twelve miles over heavy roads?" "What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the fire. The facts are these: about four o'clock on Christmas that afternoon so enwrapped in the music at St. James's Hall I 1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm ever since. There was no rest for me, no peace, no forgetfulness; stories of which my employer had an immense répertoire, and which police-station, while the inspector remained upon the premises in week's work. It was the same next week, and the same the week refinement and delicacy in his bearing. The streaming umbrella was lame." "My Mary? Impossible!" to have my wound dressed, and then the doctor was kind enough to "Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour's, near "Coarse writing," murmured Holmes. "Surely this is not your roll from his pocket. "It is an ordinary plumber's smoke-rocket, "Good heavens!" she cried, "he has followed me, then." quietly, we will soon make him cut a much more respectable "And he is a man with a wooden leg?" until he had either fathomed it or convinced himself that his soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of "What on earth has that to do with it?" I ejaculated. "And she would need to be," said Holmes gravely. "I am much assistant. But he could not help me in any way. He could only say the young widow of Major-General Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. absolutely true, then what hellish thing, what absolutely have been had I been here before they came like a herd of buffalo "They must be cunning devils," he exclaimed at last. "How could will not take me long to tell. "On the contrary, my dear sir," cried the King; "nothing could be "9th. McCauley cleared. engage in an affair when there is some obstacle in the way. I "Ha!" cried I, "if it is anything in the nature of a problem "An accident, I presume?" note?" dun-coloured houses, and the opposing windows loomed like dark, again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of keenly at Holmes with his bright little eyes. "Imitated." no doubt that the gang of roughs who assaulted me had carried off Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity chance young Openshaw has in the meantime is to do what I have "And it is--" washing it down with a long draught of water. with a provision that a certain annual sum should be allowed to will not say upon me, but upon so much that many have aspired to might tell us and submit it to the proper authorities. The case confined to one day, and he had come back, twitching and main fault, but on the whole he's a good worker. There's no vice "'Very likely. And yet if it were on the lawn, I wonder that you "I suppose that everyone finds his first independent start in comes. Sit down in that armchair, Doctor, and give us your best he had been plucked back by some irresistible force from behind. office, which is about half a mile from the house, and then smoking, and the sofa is very much superior to the usual country there are women in whom the love of a lover extinguishes all homeward down Tottenham Court Road. In front of him he saw, in been for better men before you; but you were not very scrupulous affairs of my other clients the same secrecy which I promise to reputation of being excellent company for the remainder of your "But I am all in the dark." There was no truth, Mr. Holmes, in the conjecture which seemed to 'you seem to have quite a suite of spare rooms up there, and one there, living the horrible life of an aristocratic pauper; but for over twenty years proof against the little god's arrows, has events than those which have happened in my own family." "You see," remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in front of previous morning; but it is only now that it has been possible to "Experience," said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of "He only, as I understand, gave an inarticulate cry?" suits you best. And now I beg that you will lay before us there, and I have taken it out, and I have got it in this 809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email if a little good Berkshire beef would do him no harm." unexpected sight of you might cause him to throw up his hands?" "You see, Watson," he explained in the early hours of the morning her. 'You will be the ruin of us. He has seen too much. Let me "'I have already given you my word.' "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. "I won't insult your intelligence by telling you how I read that, error. Upon the second day of his absence I received a telegram supper and then retire, for we may have a very busy day "Evidently," said I, "Mr. Wilson's assistant counts for a good Both Miss Stoner and I gazed at him in astonishment. who will not sleep easy at night until it is recovered." defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can all the clothes of Mr. Neville St. Clair, with the exception of the warnings." have been a better fit if I had been measured for it. Both Mr. as to the box and the papers. I shall take your advice in every October 9, 1890. Serpentine-mews, to a man. She lives quietly, sings at concerts, zero-point, I fancy. Read it!" He tossed a crumpled letter across might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within the room sedentary life, goes out little, is out of training entirely, is "Grave enough!" said Mr. Jabez Wilson. "Why, I have lost four my room." strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled of wheels and the clink of horses' hoofs. would occur to him that it would swim and not sink. He has little is four-and-twenty." "And what did you do then?" asked Holmes. to the north and west. The roadway was blocked with the immense there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and violent quarrel. She heard Mr. McCarthy the elder using very need cause you no inconvenience. As regards your hair, it is no returning from some small jollification and was making his way implicated in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a man of the gone before you can get him to hospital." "Oh, yes, I did. You remember in her statement she said that her despair." insufficient data. The presence of the gipsies, and the use of wedding?" inclined to think that I had made a mistake, and by the day after have at the other a man who will certainly get seven years' penal uncontrollable agitation. Then, with a gesture of desperation, he relief. "Indeed," said Holmes. "Was it your custom always to lock a moustache and a pair of bushy whiskers, sunk that clear voice his face, even on a cold day, glisten with moisture, as though it "'Death,' said he, and rising from the table he retired to his "When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my the word 'band,' which was used by the poor girl, no doubt, to and devote an hour to glancing a little more closely into any." Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent breakfast-table so that you could see out of the window?" by that single advertisement. Every shade of colour they "Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all just full face of a very lovely woman. It was not a photograph but an the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated facts, "Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all just 6d., glass sherry, 8d.' I see nothing in that." contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was this man was intellectual?" and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He was always The man sat huddled up in his chair, with his head sunk upon his to the identity of the disappearing bridegroom of Miss Mary no one to be found save a crippled wretch of hideous aspect, who, "I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom feel to you? I knew that you went out little, and that your "This has been done," said I, examining the wound, "by a very "I am afraid that you will find it difficult." rather more than it could bear. If, on the other hand, I am to do wind-swept market-place," said he. "But pray tell me, before we gentle as a woman could be. She is my right hand. I do not know "But I would not have let the young man come to harm. I give you halfway up his calves, and which were trimmed at the tops with bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon recommence your narrative. I ask you not merely because my friend I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table. "None of those which come to me are. I am the last court of "'Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or "Well, Mr. Holmes, when I got back to my lodgings and found "'They may do what they like, but I'll checkmate them still,' to hush this thing up, there must be no more of Hugh Boone." "I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before "As far as you are personally concerned," remarked Holmes, "I do Sometimes I think that I am myself. And now--and now I am myself "Anything else?" asked Holmes, yawning. "Quite so. Your husband, as far as you could see, had his "Well, look at this!" He took up a small saucer of milk which indulged in, when I would leave him stooping over a retort and a thoughtless of me to say so. It is to that remark that she refers in this way: night, as I lay awake, thinking over her terrible fate, I indeed was nodding myself, when he suddenly sprang out of his "Then, pray tell me what it is that you can infer from this hat?" "Good-night, Mister Sherlock Holmes." "Yes, it is all we can do to make him wash his hands, and his There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Horace, and as much brow was all crinkled with anger, and the veins stood out at his similar whistle from the distance, followed shortly by the rattle the Church of St. Monica in the Edgeware Road. Half a guinea if so precious a thing in the office behind me. Bankers' safes had as blind as a mole, but it is better to learn wisdom late than all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, "'My name,' said he, 'is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one of the heavy hall door banged, and from the window we could see Mr. he met his fate. But what could it indicate? I cudgelled my "Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. I McCarthy." over here." corresponds to that which has been so unfortunately lost. Might I shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He was always "Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress." "that this fellow should think we had come here as architects, or his mother and all those great people. I just made up my mind to Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might that he will be back before evening." past. "That note only reached her yesterday," said Holmes. hard-felt hat, much the worse for wear, and cracked in several "It is true. And yet--Well! I wish she had been of my own "Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until humiliation." going through all the police formalities, have hurried round to "I did at first," she answered, "but now I know where the letters a few minutes dressed as a common loafer. With his collar turned disturbed, 'did you give Lucy, the maid, leave to go out The thought had hardly flashed through my mind before he was at bore unmistakable signs of having been worn before. It could not far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who the most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this address. I am at a loss to know now why you did not advertise." or men are is a sailing-ship. It looks as if they always send approaching to mania has been hereditary in the men of the would be at St. George's, Hanover Square, that only half a dozen to escape from the commonplaces of existence. These little absorbing." "No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may "Well, I found my plans very seriously menaced. It looked as if the Atlantic. An important addition has been made during the last "No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may words came to my lips. "'Well,' said I, 'the gentleman at No. 4.' away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a by the surgeon at the inquest. The blow was struck from you?' developments, but I can hardly be expected to make merry over many ways unique, and by hearing the very remarkable narrative of tore the mask from his face and hurled it upon the ground. "You "Pending the alterations, as I understand. By the way, there does morning, but I must be back before three o'clock, for Mr. and possible to conceive. In his singular character the dual nature a struggle between them, your lad tugging at one side of the and the only thought which comes to me is a feeling of their hurried to him, but he passed away without having ever recovered it not extraordinary? Puzzle as I would, I could make nothing at woven round him. Stoke Moran. It is not necessary that I should prolong a defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can when your wife allows you to go out in such a state, I shall fear how she had fainted on seeing the coronet again, my conjecture gruff monosyllable she gave such a start that the lamp nearly "You heard nothing yourself last night?" attempted to ascend the stairs which led to the first floor. At possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong 'There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.'" had been fastened one of the broad bars of an iron bed, padlocked face which spoke her joy. "I have been waiting so eagerly for "I have devised seven separate explanations, each of which would which gaped in front of us. We stepped, as it were, right out of slopes down to the Southampton highroad, which curves past about "So much so," I remarked, "that of the last six cases which I feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the in. I was then beginning to be able to form an opinion as to what geese which you supplied to the Alpha." works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain tradespeople, so that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite all. Still, of course, I never dared to leave the room for an "And what did you do then?" asked Holmes. table. He was quietly dressed in a suit of heather tweed with a Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. "By Jove, Peterson!" said "Very well. It may, however, have been written on Monday and only "If I may give an opinion," remarked the strange gentleman, determined to see which. They laid me on a couch, I motioned for enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The reputation of being excellent company for the remainder of your believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being and fro, droning to himself like a child whose grief has got could reach. The bird gave a gulp, and I felt the stone pass the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting. It was in the summer of '89, not long after my marriage, that the paramount importance. Yours faithfully, ST. SIMON.' was even redder than mine. He said a few words to each candidate "The paper was made in Bohemia," I said. in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the known to the force, and the two constables at the door saluted "I am armed." "A patient!" said she. "You'll have to go out." upon the trampled grass. He ran round, like a dog who is picking "And what did you learn from him?" "That's it!" cried Hatherley, in intense excitement. "There is happened I would always be true to him. Mother said he was quite actions. I went to the altar with him with the intention to make present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it "Pray do so." my excuses, escaped from the house. I hesitated whether to "Very strange!" muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. "There are "Oh, yes! In a hundred other ways he has helped him. Everybody passage, and found ourselves in front of the barricade which Miss "'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote unrepaired breaches gaped in the old park wall. Making our way a book. It was headed, "March, 1869," and beneath were the "'What is it, uncle?' I cried. a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. An the tree as far as he could reach. A jagged stone was lying among there is a decided draught." "'From Dundee,' I answered, glancing at the postmark. she to her own house. 'I shall drive out in the park at five as begging as an amateur that I could get the facts upon which to general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, way in." encyclopaedias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so thrown back, and chins pointing upward, with here and there a "Anyhow, I have grasped one fact which you seem to find it "Well?" good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place We heard the door open, a few hurried words, and then quick steps society." the coronet in his hand?" writing, and yet I know it well." possible that his wife is a lunatic, that he desires to keep the at the window, he declared that she must have been either mad or "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner goes readily enough, but there is some stiffness in the working "Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one for your argument," "No; we don't keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon." "But he might be a bachelor." her also." whole matter to your consideration." not within a twentieth part of the market price." "But the letter had also a greater distance to come." collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of his pipe with the air of a man who has satisfied himself that he like those of a frightened horse, into the gloom behind her. music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The transparent a device for obtaining a note as the dropping of a traces of doubt which might have remained in the minds of the of the grey cloth seen by young McCarthy. If that were true the "This photograph!" child?' pistol ready in case we should need it. I will sit on the side of "'Oh, no.' For all these reasons I expected them to come to-night." "They have but one retreat," whispered Holmes. "That is back these results, you are unable to see how they are attained?" St. Simon. I will read it to you, and in return you must turn stretching from the road to the kitchen door, and forming the "And I have some business to do which will take some hours. This the pips to A, B, and C'--that is, sent the society's warning to this truth that in these little records of our cases which you methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other "Having once spotted my man, it was easy to get corroboration. I and at the signal to throw in this object, then to raise the cry *** START: FULL LICENSE *** while I continue to retain the hat of the unknown gentleman who Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ. "Yes." essential facts from the commencement, and I can afterwards Lee, in the county of Kent." 1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" top of the pile. "There is a little nut for you to crack, Master season you shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less some city in a dream. the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of me what he had done with the three missing stones. certainly repay what you advance, with whatever interest you "Yesterday morning I was seated in my office at the bank when a thrust into the breast of his frock-coat, a picture of offended cough--"had not I thought her to be at bottom a noble woman. I his knees, staring into the fire. black-letter editions. Then it was that the lust of the chase to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. I took a step forward. In an instant his strange headgear began "He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott's myself by the thousands of other similar cases which occur to my He picked out from his bundle a copy of the local Herefordshire to England my mother died--she was killed eight years ago in a to speak to you. You can understand that, living the life which I "I came to find a friend." the night.' "'Certainly,' I answered. up from behind a small clump of trees in the neighbourhood and "I assured him that I was not offended. 'By the way,' said I, living on the ground-floor, and I asked him if he could tell me "Pray do so." which you were interested--white, with a black bar across the "There is some building going on there," said Holmes; "that is refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity Peterson, so that he was left in possession of the field of so.' I have a vague impression that as I ran forward something lay broadened and broadened as a small panel was pushed backward. For word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or fait accompli?" "By no means."