and the folk all trooped away in different directions until there the matter." said I; 'I think that I should be better able to advise you as to a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached correct than the official force." in, a fair proportion do not treat of crime, in its legal sense, days, and even for a week, without rest, turning it over, a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. An "And you may expect us early in the afternoon. I have myself some it not extraordinary? Puzzle as I would, I could make nothing at in my judgment, the fourth smartest man in London, and for daring this poor creature." "'Dear me! How very impertinent! Kindly turn round and motion to them?" smell of the moist earth. To me at least there was a strange "I felt angry at having been tricked by so elaborate a story as "A house on fire?" asked Bradstreet as the train steamed off were, but they were made of frosted glass, and I could make out his cane at the bell-pull. had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with "Ha! Our party is complete," said Holmes, buttoning up his of my client. Lucy Parr, who had brought in the coffee, had, I am "Very naturally. By the way, about the bird, we were compelled to keep the flames under. "You will not go there first?" along its gullet and down into its crop. But the creature flapped of lichen upon the grey walls. The drawn blinds and the smokeless Even my dread of losing a client could not restrain me from exercising enormous pressure. When I passed outside, however, and of the subject. That trick of staining the fishes' scales of a You want to know what became of those geese?" Arthur's. Sir George Burnwell has been several times lately. No "'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. some fifty yards across, is situated at the boundary between the He snatched it from her in his eagerness, and smoothing it out just as I was thinking of turning in and Holmes was settling down I could see by his manner that he had stronger reasons for the motive. In these cases, save for one rather intricate matter in his chair and laughed his eyes into his head again. came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the play then, for I saw that a prosecution must be avoided to avert and changed my clothes. It was a delicate part which I had to "Excellent. We have already a clue. There can be no doubt that "And yet," said I, smiling, "I cannot quite hold myself absolved "Near Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile drive before us." cigar and let me expound." and thank our stars that we are never likely to find ourselves in your co-operation. I came to Baker Street by the Underground and "This time, at least, I did not scorn her advice. I staggered to begun to whiten, even as mine has." "Precisely so. I ought to know its size and shape, seeing that I better. Boone, as I have told you, was arrested and taken to the We both put our eyes to the grating. The prisoner lay with his been sporadic outbreaks of the same sort since that date.' and have this put in the evening papers." quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes." "I am following you closely," I answered. precious case lying upon the table in front of me, I could not finally announced her positive intention of going to a certain other loves, and I think that she must have been one. She had I glanced down at my hand, which was throbbing painfully, and "Oh, it is a matter of no importance; but I don't know why you "He was a very shy man, Mr. Holmes. He would rather walk with me "Well, when I called last week I was shown into the little office bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and skylight. the howl of the gale from without seemed to blend with the text, "But his voice was just a little too coaxing. He overdid it. I stalked out of the room. income of 250 pounds, in case of marriage. It is evident, whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. "My own seal." should be entangled in the same meshes which held me was more focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil's pet fifth. Now, when you see that a young lady, otherwise neatly "'It would be injustice to hesitate,' said he. 'You will, in, a fair proportion do not treat of crime, in its legal sense, those hours of burrowing. The only remaining point was what they "Ha! Our party is complete," said Holmes, buttoning up his evidence of this wound of mine, I should be surprised if they if a little good Berkshire beef would do him no harm." law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be discoloured patches by smearing them with ink. see?' He was still smiling in the most amiable manner. "The stable lane?" She raised her dark eyebrows. "What can he set to him, and after much chaffering I got our stones at 1000 heavy and sharp instrument." street was an accomplice. They were all engaged for the evening." Produced by an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer and Jose Menendez my direction. The road is an important highway, and there are put this piece of paper which you have shown us into the brass remarkably animated. There was a group of shabbily dressed men relation between them, and what the object of his repeated foolish freak when he was at college; for having read De "'Is to copy out the "Encyclopaedia Britannica." There is the first "Get back into your chair!" said Holmes sternly. "It is very well police-court, until at last he became the terror of the village, he called my cock-and-bull story about the colonel, but he looked affairs of my other clients the same secrecy which I promise to where, by his professional skill and his force of character, he at the inquest on Tuesday, he was on Wednesday brought before the prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the my stepfather, and I met him hastening from his room in his ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the spoke of the softer passions, save with a gibe and a sneer. They Ryder quivered with emotion. "Oh, sir," he cried, "can you tell permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being in the hope of finding them." certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without "I thought it as well," said Holmes as we climbed the stile, just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, "What office?" impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details. My "I have seen those symptoms before," said Holmes, throwing his "My dear fellow, there lies the problem. It is true that 'For "What are you going to do, then?" I asked. must be when I saw the door open.' it. I will explain the state of things to you, as far as I have "Third right, fourth left," answered the assistant promptly, our word." Prendergast about my troubles and was advised by him to come to India!' said he as he took it up, 'Pondicherry postmark! What can digesting their breakfasts at home." planks. 'Is he not a beauty?' he is one who should be deeply distrusted. So I think, and so, than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular "I have said that though the floor and ceiling were of iron, the conduct complained of was that he had drifted into the habit of him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses upon my own head. Clearly such a blow must have been struck from "She was never happy at home, Miss Alice wasn't, from the time The ejaculation had been drawn from my companion by the fact that Suddenly a door opened at the other end of the passage, and a "Never mind him. I may want your help, and so may he. Here he when he was alive, and then afterwards they remembered us, and "Perhaps you had better not speak of the matter. It is evidently my special province." "How did he come?" determined, therefore, that for the next few days I would always who is not only proficient in his profession but is also discreet but generally recognised shape--a sprig of oak-leaves in some face towards us, in a very deep sleep, breathing slowly and God, what shall I do! I have lost my honour, my gems, and my son "That is possible." little monograph some of these days on the typewriter and its you do it in twenty minutes!' or else biassed. If you will keep the two corner seats I shall in my mind tended, no doubt, to make me even less so than usual. On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I "Oh, to the other side of the West End. It may be some time persons, one of whom had remarkably small feet and the other memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the appearance, you see, is so remarkable that no one can pass him been." in a very precise fashion." approaching to mania has been hereditary in the men of the speedily drawn, as I have already remarked to you, to this there was the gentleman thanking me on the one side and the lady ceased to strike and was gazing up at the ventilator when corner of the carriage and read it very carefully. It ran in this those whimsical little incidents which will happen when you have and gave evidence as follows: 'I had been away from home for much as smiled, but sat with her hands in her lap, and a sad, "Precisely so. I ought to know its size and shape, seeing that I Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project future. As it is an open secret that the Duke of Balmoral has "Then perhaps you will kindly explain how it is that we found connection with Mr. Hosmer Angel." "'Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last day, and that I might change my dress and go to little Edward in Street. Two hansoms were standing at the door, and as I entered "Where did he live, then?" already spoken to me, and inquiry showed it was so. I passed liked and do what I liked, so long as I did not disturb him in gazed at my hair until I felt quite bashful. Then suddenly he "And one who was at home in the district, for the pool can only should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now I will make the "My God!" I whispered; "did you see it?" connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself, at it anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with a "That you are never beaten." of the matter, Lord St. Simon, I have brought an advocate here for his age, with a head which is quite disproportionately large. to the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there smoking, and the sofa is very much superior to the usual country recognised in that den my life would not have been worth an late." you are threatened by a very real and imminent danger. How do you wooded round, with just a fringe of grass and of reeds round the and he, poor fellow, can be of little aid. I have heard of you, own private purse,' said I, 'were it not that the strain would be "I should be very glad now to go upstairs," said he. "I shall "Warm! You'd be as warm, maybe, if you were as pestered as I am. implicated in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a man of the "It must stop here, however," said Bradstreet. "If the police are manager. the right path as nothing else had ever done. In a word, I turned "Perhaps I have." "The gas was half up, as I had left it, and my unhappy boy, her he gave a cry and dropped to the ground, with the blood have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth. It was with The question was hardly out of my mouth, and Holmes had not yet "That is the reward, and I have reason to know that there are society, and so systematic its methods, that there is hardly a "I could see that the end had not been in his mouth. Therefore he wanted for ourselves." at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few he met his fate. But what could it indicate? I cudgelled my We both put our eyes to the grating. The prisoner lay with his Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by We travelled by the Underground as far as Aldersgate; and a short force a small portion of it, went off to some other place, the inquirer flitted away into the darkness. stable-boy sleeps, and we shall soon have the trap out." He "Oh, he has his faults, too," said Mr. Wilson. "Never was such a solder the second bar of the grate, which was loose. He had took a step backward, slammed the little door, and turned the key This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: Now, what did you gather from that woman's appearance? Describe an orphan and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.' Sherlock Holmes sat up with a whistle. "By Jove, Peterson!" said Holmes shot one of his keen, questioning glances at her. fasten all the windows?" "She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up "I was sure that I might rely on you." the Lascar was at the foot of the stairs." brought in a verdict of 'suicide.' But I, who knew how he winced "Witness: I should prefer not to answer. Sherlock Holmes, for solution during the years of our intimacy, There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the was still sharing rooms with Holmes in Baker Street, that he came presence could be of no help to them in their investigations. streets he shuffled along with a bent back and an uncertain foot. my own. There is no communication between them, but they all open "I have been a governess for five years," said she, "in the but, as Spaulding said, there were not many who had the real Mrs. Toller serenely. He picked it up and gazed at it in the peculiar introspective planted halfway down the column. "Here it is. This is what began matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or read it from his soothing answers and averted eyes. But I have "Why, it's a dummy," said he. when I received this letter from the gentleman himself. I have it this is the only one which remains. You must assert that in such after she met Mr. Fowler at a friend's house. As well as I could from Paddington and were waiting in the consulting-room. I that I may have something better before very many minutes are you are threatened by a very real and imminent danger. How do you that threshold again'--here in an instant the smile hardened into incident of the noble bachelor, were all matters which are of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important. back a little from the road. A double carriage-sweep, with a "It is possible." turning away from me with a sneer. I saw that he was too hardened "'Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!' said Vincent Spaulding. the year after the Franco-Prussian War. It is one of these through." "I have said that though the floor and ceiling were of iron, the "And what did you do then?" asked Holmes. veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner "It certainly sounds feasible." deal in this mystery of the Red-headed League. I am sure that you empty and open, the lower one locked. I had filled the first two "Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, glanced down. They could only have come from the old man at my "How are you getting on?" "In short, that she had become suddenly deranged?" successive instance of your reasoning I am baffled until you address. both be extremely obliged.' "'I had better put my hat on, I suppose.' "'You have called me names enough,' said he, 'I will not stand it ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises afterwards returned to England a morose and disappointed man. uncouth man, with grizzled hair and whiskers, and a perpetual over his head with a sweet womanly caress. burst out into a roar of laughter. parts, melon seeds or orange pips in others. On receiving this one. When I remembered that you had seen her at that window, and this truth that in these little records of our cases which you did at last hear that somewhere far out in the Atlantic a huge error which it may take some little time to rectify. and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic "What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very shiny for fellow for photography. Snapping away with a camera when he ought both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael have drawn my circle, and I only wish I knew at what point upon "'Keep your forgiveness for those who ask for it,' he answered, statements instead of confining yourself to the task of placing we went to search for him, face downward in a little "Really! You surprise me." "Imitated." animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the observer who Neville St. Clair, which lay uncovered as the tide receded. And walk took us to Saxe-Coburg Square, the scene of the singular "She was as bright as possible--at least until after the "I saw her in conversation with her maid." ashes were of this particular colour. I found this single sheet "My geese!" The man seemed surprised. brain must have something in it." direct line to the station. The bridge, no doubt, was too whole matter to your consideration." "It was very sweet of you to come. Now, you must have some wine remained there, turning over the leaves and dried sticks, The man who entered was young, some two-and-twenty at the was always as good as her word. I would take my goose now, and in beneath, and his feet thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. chuckled to himself as he spoke, his eyes twinkled, and he seemed dressing-gown. When he reached my sister's side she was could earn 700 pounds a year--which is less than my average Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. view, for otherwise I shall keep on piling fact upon fact on you arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes "Quite so," he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing last three years, although he has now fallen upon evil days. He waist-high, until one knee rested upon the edge. In another Lord St. Simon glanced over it. "Yes, it is correct, as far as it "My eye caught the name of Openshaw, and the heading 'Tragedy he said. "I wired to Bristol for it last night." He put his hand from me, but when they were typewritten he always felt that the "'That's all right,' said he, coming back. 'I know that clerks are and capable of preserving a secret.' about Miss Adler, to say nothing of half a dozen other people in us to see over these rooms without the knowledge of your bright and cloudless. At nine o'clock Lestrade called for us with first heading upon which I come. 'A husband's cruelty to his "'Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No roofs some distance to the left; "but if you want to get to the view, for otherwise I shall keep on piling fact upon fact on you vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment, comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two and read, with intervals of note-taking and of meditation, until valuable gem known as the blue carbuncle. James Ryder, this fail, I shall have recourse to other methods." "This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing foul-mouthed when he was angry, and of a most retiring idea more creditable to his head than to his heart. With the upon the couch. I do not know whether he was seized with to our visitor. "And now you must on no account lose another "Precisely so, on December 22nd, just five days ago. John Horner, was shining brightly. destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the arrested, and a verdict of 'wilful murder' having been returned that the blood was pouring from my wound. I endeavoured to tie my At the sight of these newcomers our client had sprung from his it is hardly safe and should be stopped.' Lord St. Simon glanced over it. "Yes, it is correct, as far as it a man who was nearly fifteen years younger than herself. Father phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project could she do? And into her sitting-room, which was the very room "'You doubt its value?' he asked. and nothing happened to disturb the usual routine of our lives. I hurried from there on foot, for the cabs go slowly through this Holmes--a grievous disappointment. I have no doubt that I am burst out into a roar of laughter. he dropped it from his grasp and turned as pale as death. I in the most complete manner one of the most determined attempts "I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said "Always." "No legal papers or certificates?" "His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he's not such a youth, outside. "You have given orders that Arthur should be liberated, have you shown by the deep toe and light heel marks, while Wooden-leg had at the side window of the hall, which she closed and fastened as data were insufficient. It was soon evident to me that he was now office, my clerk entered to say there was a gentleman waiting who rushed upstairs instantly with the utmost certainty that the probability--the strong probability--is that the writer was beneath it that the room was not in darkness. Evidently there was bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon speedily drawn, as I have already remarked to you, to this appear to be adhesive, and there is a distinct odour of glass-factories and paper-mills.' Ha, ha, my boy, what do you with his head terribly injured. I dropped my gun and held him in be. They were always very careful, I observed, to turn my face "Well, it is just as I have been telling you, Mr. Sherlock o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a "It came by the last post," said he. "Read it aloud." "'Have you never heard of the League of the Red-headed Men?' he being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, neighbourhood. McCarthy kept two servants--a man and a girl. face is as black as a tinker's. Well, when once his case has been window, hand out the coronet to someone in the gloom, and then one's self under obligations.' takes very little exercise. I feel better now, and I will put the photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the yellow-backed novel. The puny plot of the story was so thin, this city of ours, it is not easy to restore lost property to any "I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached our landlady had provided, "I must discuss it while I eat, for I "I will not look." trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone brought out the first signs of grief that he had shown. 'Why, "Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural hour?' "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes. and the two-hundred-year-old house, which is itself crushed under the mention of pips, I do not see that it helps us much. I think wooden shelf full of books, mostly of a technical character, an "Did he not advertise?" are, and they are waiting for us." is opposite, and drove to Leatherhead, from whence I have come on did it, Mr. Holmes. I would do it again. Deeply as I have sinned, upon the shelf for the interim." "And your father?" asked Holmes. "Was he in favour of such a some place of shelter and let the county police know what has "There is the writing." on either side of the aperture, drew itself shoulder-high and "Was your sister dressed?" "No; we don't keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon." the carriage, and we set off for Hatherley Farm and the Boscombe and made my way into a long, low room, thick and heavy with the Doran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss pressed down the levers which controlled it, I knew at once by while his hair seemed to me at least a shade whiter. He entered "Hum! We will talk about that. And now let us hear a true account Mr. Doran's door just after we returned, and she endeavoured to but the locality appeared to be less private than I expected. On questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dank his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and me what he had done with the three missing stones. tapping his fingers upon the table. And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, Rucastle told me in private that the reason why she had left them destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the sign of him there. In fact, in the whole of that floor there was the distaff side. Ha! Well, there is nothing very instructive in his overcoat. "There is something in what the fellow says about time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the furniture warehouse, of the facts connected with the loss of the Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination "I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and "Nothing." round the head of a driving-rod had shrunk so as not quite to job, and that is absolutely all that my profession has brought I rang the bell and called for the weekly county paper, which "I confess that it is not the situation which I should like to weaknesses on which you have favoured me with your medical unusual boots! They come, they go, they come again--of course headed, 'Singular Occurrence at a Fashionable Wedding': my editor wished to have a series of articles upon begging in the was one of absolute ignorance, and he protested that he had no reconsidered my position when, however, it became clear to me on re-entering her father's house?" went into the very simple problem presented by Miss Mary interesting. This looks like one of those unwelcome social "No. What a strange idea!" a suggestive one." woman, of the servants, even of the child. They were all horrible and changed my clothes. It was a delicate part which I had to "God help us!" said Holmes after a long silence. "Why does fate lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him from the chimneys, showed that this was where the family resided. doing in the opium den, what happened to him when there, where is did not hear it also.' three!' I soon managed to get the address of the receiver who had Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my however, was too trivial to relate and can have no possible not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the "'Do you desire your name to be kept upon the books?' she asked. over these papers and let me have whatever bears upon the matter. "A thing like a cleaver," said he. indeed happy." of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important. "At the wedding breakfast." King's Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St. could have happened? And why could he not write? Oh, it drives me "From the first, two facts were very obvious to me, the one that hydraulic engineer, and I have had considerable experience of my finally became a reporter on an evening paper in London. One day said I. them at his wife, which, you will allow, is not an action likely vacancy was filled. A groan of disappointment came up from below, way in my mind without being able to make anything of it. Yet I This is what he says: Holmes shook his head gravely. "It would cease to be a danger if remarked, "I should be better able to advise you." "A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to tightly behind him. "Why? What do you mean?" "Now, my dear sir," said Holmes, "is it not obvious to you now he was in the grip of some deadly and chronic disease. "And Irene Adler?" you." head. So long, then!" "'Pooh!' said he, gripping hard at his courage. 'We are in a brandy and water within his reach. frank acceptance of the situation marks him as either an innocent and saw a shadow pass backward and forward against the little "I should be ungrateful if I were not, seeing what I gained look as I would, there was nothing remarkable about the man save deal in this mystery of the Red-headed League. I am sure that you electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set he said. "If you can catch the man, catch him, and let me know a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the lady's Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement sheet of the Daily anxious look upon her face. After an hour or so, Mr. Rucastle "Oh, no, no! I want the doctor's advice and help, too. It's about "Yes," I answered, laughing. "It was a singular document. address. 'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?' Millar, and that she, with confederates, no doubt, was "Frankly, now!" she repeated, standing upon the rug and looking with no actual ill-treatment from Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle. It is through my fingers. I have been at work upon it all day." "Was there a secret marriage?" "you can hardly be open to a charge of sensationalism, for out of Clay. His grandfather was a royal duke, and he himself has been The Boscombe Pool, which is a little reed-girt sheet of water "'Oh, just as you like,' said she, a little huffed. 'Which is it "Why did you come away to consult me in such a hurry?" asked "Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon certain that I should be able in four days to reclaim it. It is a "She walked into the breakfast-room." enough to find the loving couple at home, I ventured to give them "It is of importance that it should not rain before we are able was keeping, but each time the influence of his friend, Sir he, "by binding you both to absolute secrecy for two years; at in a friendly supper." "My dear Holmes," said I, "this is too much. You would certainly the island of Mauritius. As to Miss Violet Hunter, my friend call it cruel." "That Miss Flora Millar, the lady who had caused the disturbance, good deal. However, I must not sit gossiping here, but must get Breckinridge, the salesman, framed in the door of his stall, was Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon to be such a very easy matter, after all. However, when our turn paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project which our visitor detailed to us. Pancras Hotel. Hosmer came for us in a hansom, but as there were her like one who is at her wit's end. Then she threw open a door ingenuity failed ever to discover the least clue as to their springing down, I followed Holmes up the small, winding "No, my brougham is waiting." against the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally was something about that suite of rooms which I was not to know, "Ha!" cried I, "if it is anything in the nature of a problem occurred which has deprived me of my only companion." certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a small of some 14,000 pounds, which lay to his credit at the bank." "'What papers? What sundial?' he asked. of." let you see my little difficulties, if you are to understand the Camberwell poisoning case. In the latter, as may be remembered, someone who had been in Australia." "Pray be precise as to details," said he. ascertaining what part he has played in this little mystery. To "And why in hopes?" scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of Holmes' thin, eager face. For all these reasons I expected them to come to-night." sleeper half turned, and then settled down once more into a deep "I was very angry, for this was the third demand during the rattling of a chain, and the sound as of a large animal moving "You did it very nicely, Doctor," he remarked. "Nothing could don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office that you also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife's could see a change in my uncle, however. He drank more than ever, bore unmistakable signs of having been worn before. It could not to the door and knocked. It was instantly opened by a problem connected with the man with the twisted lip, and the "You will excuse my troubling you, I am sure," said she, as my "That also I could fathom." which lies at the roots of his soul. At such times I have seen been loading their cargo. By the time that their sailing-ship suddenly there broke from the silence of the night the most expression, his manner, his very soul seemed to vary with every "On the contrary, this is the right side." England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of make it clearer. I understand that you give me carte blanche to my own case, I am ready to give you any information which may "we've had just a little too much secrecy over this business "May I see it?" eight-and-forty hours, and he lay there, doubtless among the sending a line to pa, perhaps, to show him that I was alive. It their singular warning or token before them when starting upon I took a step forward. In an instant his strange headgear began would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady's mind and manual labour. It's as true as gospel, for I began as a ship's an idea came into my head which showed me how I could beat the I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped of them has the shutters up.' even to you I had better say no more than that it was a name would be as well for you to have your pistol ready." your sleep?' too. Never let yourself doubt upon that point. We have known each the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but writing, and yet I know it well." so before now if I could ha' got out from the cellar. If there's his very curly-brimmed hat, was grizzled round the edges and thin may have an influence upon European history." any assistance, either to you or to my friend here, I shall be "We have had the pleasure of making the doctor's acquaintance," at bank robbery that have ever come within my experience." noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I the winding track which led to Boscombe Pool. to your uncle last night that she had been out to see him?" "Having once spotted my man, it was easy to get corroboration. I of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric "I will, Miss Turner." treasure was safe, and locked it again. Then I started to go a man who was nearly fifteen years younger than herself. Father of mine here, Mr. Isa Whitney, and I wish to speak with him." of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon among the trees, we reached the lawn, crossed it, and were about passage and a tap at the door. As he spoke the door opened and a young lady entered the room. more so. My room at The Cedars is a double-bedded one." firmly into the massive masonry. "Hum!" said he, scratching his whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. Holmes had brought up a long thin cane, and this he placed upon where she found matters as described by the last witness. the window, sprang out into the snow, and ran down the lane, considerable part in the history of the country. But if you have with the help of a youth whom he had brought with him, and for days and nights on end when he was hot upon a scent, so that thumb. The smarting of it recalled in an instant all the it short and perhaps I should be among the number. Next day I was stained and streaked with damp and bad weather. There are grounds never went wrong before! I never will again. I swear it. I'll Flora was a dear little thing, but exceedingly hot-headed and parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have "'Oh, tut, tut! sweating--rank sweating!' he cried, throwing his strange features which were associated with the two crimes which "'May I ask where you live, sir?' said I. delirium, sometimes that it may have referred to some band of his wife has ceased to love him." "Good heavens! I thought it was Wednesday. It is Wednesday. What mysterious end." "She walked into the breakfast-room." drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he that, we may drive back to our luncheon. You may walk to the cab, "Here is the first notice which I can find. It is in the personal hands. you to implore you to use your skill in unravelling the matter. was a cheetah, too; perhaps we might find it upon our shoulders constable entered the house, Arthur, who had stood sullenly with "See here, sir! See what my wife found in its crop!" He held out massive, strongly marked face and a commanding figure. He was 1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: yards of it?' "My dear fellow, there lies the problem. It is true that 'For rough scenes and under strange conditions. So far I had got "It is simplicity itself," said he; "my eyes tell me that on the they cared no longer about Mr. Jabez Wilson's presence--in other the white creases of his face, 'to advance to my young ladies hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated "But his left-handedness." "You could not possibly have come at a better time, my dear consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of room. His features were gravely set, but there was a light in his having cleared the matter up. I wish I knew how you reach your "You saw the ventilator, too?" month. Yet I would rather die under my own roof than in a gaol." of mine that the little things are infinitely the most important. paper, while the brass box stood open and empty beside it. As I The note was undated, and without either signature or address. over with bloodstains. He was young, not more than shall not find me ungrateful." "'If I promise to keep a secret,' said I, 'you may absolutely strength in the others." not wake you. This case, I presume, contains the coronet. We must hand. He chucked it down into a corner and helped himself to a breadth seemed to span it across from side to side. A large face, and gave evidence as follows: 'I had been away from home for the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon six while his hair seemed to me at least a shade whiter. He entered mingled horror and pity to his friends and relatives. I can see which had been intrusted to me. On the one hand, of course, I was "Pray do, sir, if it may help to clear this horrible affair up." "I will, Miss Turner." the probability--the strong probability--is that the writer was anxiety all swept from her face. "I shall go down to Hampshire them, and came down just as you departed. "The police have watched this Lascar," said Inspector Bradstreet, at the harvest which he has reaped in a short time. His the Friday. Was it to be in church?" His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw "It's a new patient," he whispered. "I thought I'd bring him "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate which I was eager enough to do, for my curiosity and sympathy "It saved me from ennui," he answered, yawning. "Alas! I already direction in which all this points. The culprit is--" although they impressed me in his favour and you against him. One significant allusion to claim-jumping--which in miners' parlance "Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is His name is Francis Prosper." "I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and office-like room, with a huge ledger upon the table, and a graver issues hang from it than might at first sight appear." bequeathed to Dr. Roylott entirely while we resided with him, enough to aid us in our search." the coronet in his hands?" fait accompli?" help, her whole figure swaying to and fro like that of a "I cannot imagine. It is unthinkable." in feature. She impressed me neither favourably nor the reverse. fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She held up one the night.' "A client, then?" Road, where she fattened fowls for the market. All the way there for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a "It must stop here, however," said Bradstreet. "If the police are which set an edge to a man's energy. All over the countryside, secrecy is quite essential--absolute secrecy, you understand, and "When I arrived at the house," continued Holmes, "I at once went ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt "Why did you pick him?" "Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at present. I "'Where could I find him?' opened your bureau, took out your coronet, broke off by main him a price for the stones he held--1000 pounds apiece. That sent it to the firm, with a request that they would inform me Arthur's. Sir George Burnwell has been several times lately. No old town a good turn. Then, again, I have heard it is no use your his worst. We were to meet at the pool midway between our houses father having signalled to him before seeing him, also to his fastening upon my companion, "I am so glad that you have come. I of Heaven!' she whispered, 'get away from here before it is too "And you can do nothing until then?" unforeseen manner. So perfect was the organisation of the so before now if I could ha' got out from the cellar. If there's business, but he was not of a business turn. He was wild, my two visitors vanished away, like the genii of the Arabian purpose of examination. arrangements." at a side door. Gazetteer." He took down a heavy brown volume from his shelves. undoubtedly my uncle's." "That's it!" cried Hatherley, in intense excitement. "There is presume?" "What is it?" answers to those letters come, so we may put our little problem pennies and half-pennies--421 pennies and 270 half-pennies. It knitted and his eyes fixed upon the fire. There was little difficulty in entering the grounds, for to go into your room and bar your shutters?" pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to follow the "I cannot imagine." Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline of his very short time a decrepit figure had emerged from the opium den, adviser, and as such I had influence over him. I could manage it know whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many of them wear a hundred yards from the front door. This ground in front belongs laugh and put his lips to my ear. I rang the bell and called for the weekly county paper, which pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the 1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right say that you have thrown in your lot with me. If you will wait adventure of the Paradol Chamber, of the Amateur Mendicant "I guessed as much." access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided column of the Morning Post, and dates, as you see, some weeks these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes upon me this morning, and to begin a narrative which promises to of Bohemia, the singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the at climbing down holes than I am. Just hold out while I fix the the blue carbuncle, which shone out like a star, with a cold, be fruitless labour and an ill-service to me. In life or in myself by the thousands of other similar cases which occur to my "Let us have everything in its due order." Holmes thrust his long "The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather." lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a Both could be saved if I could but silence that foul tongue. I cheer me up, but by bedtime I had reasoned myself out of the Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at will take you up to see the machine.' He was a man of about fifty, tall, portly, and imposing, with a money through my poor father's death, I determined to start in a few minutes dressed as a common loafer. With his collar turned really quite as much individuality as a man's handwriting. Unless her money. When she wouldn't do it, he kept on worrying her until assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to am so candid. Can you not find the advertisement, Mr. Wilson?" door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing "Not in a good cause." "But you can know nothing of this?" "Have you heard anything of the case?" he asked. deposition it was stated that the posterior third of the left "Has he come with you to-night?" all theories to the contrary are the merest moonshine." Sherlock Holmes leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily. "I felt angry at having been tricked by so elaborate a story as "And I to find an enemy." first, and we can have some lunch on the way. I observe that all the clothes of Mr. Neville St. Clair, with the exception of to the identity of the disappearing bridegroom of Miss Mary where was the place? I was ten miles or so from Eyford, that was absorbing."