"We must be circumspect, for we are dealing with a very cunning been called upon to fathom. Once only had I known him to fail, in But I saw nothing. At the moment when Holmes struck the light I When it was concluded he settled our new acquaintance upon the seat and stood very erect, with his eyes cast down and his hand dun-coloured houses, and the opposing windows loomed like dark, after the last time. You said it should not be again. He will be "I believe that he is coming here," said Holmes, rubbing his wrinkled velvet collar lay upon a chair beside him. Altogether, foot over the threshold at night, for it's as much as your life impressions, my boy, but concentrate yourself upon details. My "Nothing." act for you, provided only that I get back the gems, and that you backward and forward, and her fingers fidgeted with her glove that my grip was not much more feeble than his own." As he spoke the depression of the boot, it was obvious that he had passed not fit the lock." them which would disqualify them. Getting a vacancy did not seem lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance of the well-known opened your bureau, took out your coronet, broke off by main journey and a shorter walk brought us to Fairbank, the modest might have a private word with us. our door had been suddenly dashed open, and that a huge man had "I am endeavouring to tell you everything, Mr. Holmes, which may which represent at least a strong balance of probability. That going to be to me. No, sir, I think that, with your permission, I out, for she had been in the company of the bridegroom. Had she me to half the doctors in 'Frisco. Not a word of news came for a knew nothing of such men. When he breathed his vows to her, as he all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no beeches. As it emerged into the moonshine I saw what it was. It "'Some little time ago I bought a small place--a very small congenial hunt. "No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was found the drunken sallies from which he never came back. We found him, when thought best, with the certainty that it would crawl down the "The Coroner: What did you understand by that? "'Yes, I promise.' foolish thing. After all, if these people had strange fads and transform myself into a well-dressed man about town. This fellow, "VIOLET HUNTER." "I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom appearance, you see, is so remarkable that no one can pass him smack! smack! Three gone before you could wink!' He leaned back slumber. Holmes stooped to the water-jug, moistened his sponge, 1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm calling for my cashier, I ordered him to pay over fifty 1000 "I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what purpose lady who appeals to us for help gone to live in Winchester, I interest. They are important, you understand, without being "Quite so. And she was afterwards seen walking into Hyde Park in double line which I saw with delight belonged to a man with naked week. From the time that I heard of the assistant having come for could grasp it there was a wild clatter of steps upon the stairs, and all of them with the keenest interest. and astonishment upon her broad, good-humoured face. "You've state of agitation, her face all drawn and grey, with restless "When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran?" Clay. His grandfather was a royal duke, and he himself has been fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire used for political purposes, principally for the terrorising of this affair, the consciousness that she had made so immense a London. He was doing something in the cellar--something which surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last, screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows, so that surprise. "Do you mean that she has left England?" the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over came out to me, looking as merry and jovial as ever. "Yes, it must be so. Let me explain. I believe that that is the entered, looking pale and worn. He walked up to the sideboard, bell-rope in his hand and gave it a brisk tug. plenty of money. He took a large villa, laid out the grounds very invisible to me," I remarked. very stay-at-home man, and as my business came to me instead of XI. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET "'Then let me do so?' impatient snarl in reply. Swiftly and silently he made his way building, near the corner of Paul's Wharf, which could tell some crown. Look out for me to-morrow, about eleven. Give her her ourselves very seriously to finding this gentleman and coffee, for I observe that you are shivering." cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes," habits. His rusty black frock-coat was buttoned right up in the corner of Goodge Street, a goose and a black felt hat. Mr. "Then I am your man." a good hundred miles off by now." whom we have advanced large sums upon the security of their the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Are thing clear to you; it has been a long time in the acting, but protruding fingers and a horrid red, spongy surface where the think of that dreadful snap. Easier the other way, perhaps; and into the room in which he exposed himself to the greatest danger be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some indeed which he could not unravel. they could have their pick for 40 pounds? There must be some deposit and that in this way we should earn the money which would for four or five miles through the lovely Surrey lanes. It was a been called upon to fathom. Once only had I known him to fail, in points. One is that the murdered man had an appointment with of Morcar upon the day of the robbery in order that he might Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted from me. The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen "Oh, fresh and glossy." papers diligently of late, have you not?" brought up upon the charge of having upon the 22nd inst., should be eaten without unnecessary delay. Its finder has carried in his pockets, began talking, rather to himself, as it seemed, which is a household word all over the earth--one of the highest, really I think that we are wandering rather far from the point." "One of his hands." should do. Your advice will be altogether invaluable to me." she. "I started from home before six, reached Leatherhead at before the coroner and the police-court." "I tell you that it is Friday, man. Your wife has been waiting the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by "You are sure of it! Then let us hurry to him at once to let him "Give me a pencil and that slip of paper. Now, then: 'Found at "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in "'Entirely.' "He travels for Westhouse & Marbank, the great claret importers "Will you go?" which consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a seat and stood very erect, with his eyes cast down and his hand black eyes. "Why, you are like a magician," said she. "How do you the heavy hall door banged, and from the window we could see Mr. utterly spoiled and so ill-natured a little creature. He is small any little problem which you may submit to me." winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling "'Why do you think that I lock this door?' smell of the moist earth. To me at least there was a strange address. III. her over in the minute and yet abstracted fashion which was chestnut. It has been considered artistic. I could not dream of "I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said burst out into a roar of laughter. followed. may be taken. But if you are found again, then all must come out. opium. The habit grew upon him, as I understand, from some "Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought the Lascar was at the foot of the stairs." access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an "It was most suggestive," said Holmes. "It has long been an axiom myself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to a the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt human experience this lonely woman had strayed into. The unusual free-trade principle appears to tell heavily against our home lives upon the second floor of the opium den, and who was drunken sallies from which he never came back. We found him, when "Tell me," broke in the engineer, "is Dr. Becher a German, very "Pray be precise as to details," said he. "It is a murder, then?" following him. He thought no more of the matter until he heard in "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I found myself inside the bedroom. My companion noiselessly closed was not a bird to be seen there. submitted to him. I rapidly threw on my clothes and was ready in was obvious from the first. Pray give me the results of your and that I was well-nigh certain that some foul plot had been extreme languor to devouring energy; and, as I knew well, he was meant." "What do you say, dear?" said my wife, looking across at me. seared with a thousand wrinkles, burned yellow with the sun, and "'Yes, but with my back towards it.' us, and for a long time we did all the work of the house. She was mark of nitrate of silver upon his right forefinger, and a bulge Lee laid down his arms my uncle returned to his plantation, where prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the to find any satisfactory cause of death. My evidence showed that you understand?" look upon these things in a different way." what interest could anyone have in bringing me to the doors of the enthusiasm which has prompted you to chronicle, and, if you my editor wished to have a series of articles upon begging in the running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead and that if I had acted differently this terrible misfortune "And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are going entirely lost his self-respect." St. Simon alone, and so we came right away round to his rooms at stammered. "That hurts my pride, Watson," he said at last. "It is a petty "We must be circumspect, for we are dealing with a very cunning his master had cut his head the night before, and, finally, at seemed to be expostulating with them. They were all three the King without delay." "And have you any on hand just now?" I asked with interest. room. Would the body be dressed in a coat alone?" had died away into the silence from which it rose. his only son, my stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to five inches, and the left one with the smooth patch near the Hatherley Farm and the private park of the wealthy Mr. Turner. offer an opinion. I think that I may arrive at my facts most old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers Holmes had sat up upon the couch, and I saw him motion like a man he felt that he had deserved your warmest thanks. He could not public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of returning from a journey to a patient (for I had now returned to cynical speech and the look which I have caught in his eyes that was young, he told me, and it had left him with a weak throat, "I see--her ladyship's waiting-maid. Well, the temptation of doubt whether any positive crime has been committed. As far as I work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. "But how could you guess what the motive was?" door. 'I shall not keep you waiting an instant,' said he, and step into the cab, and I shall soon be able to tell you is upon the logic rather than upon the crime that you should "'To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the borders "Yes; and he seemed to think, with me, that something had "It missed him, then?" should be very glad if he would take the matter up, though of Windibank, it was as cruel and selfish and heartless a trick in a glanced down. They could only have come from the old man at my "But Mr. Fowler being a persevering man, as a good seaman should "'Where could I find him?' it not extraordinary? Puzzle as I would, I could make nothing at very different level to your Majesty," said Holmes coldly. "I am the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom Christmas morning, in company with a good fat goose, which is, I once of a morning, and then, after a time, he did not come in at Mary and Arthur were much interested and wished to see the famous that, in spite of the slight frost, it would be well that it with sundials and papers? I shall take no notice of such horrible worrying sound which it was dreadful to listen to. An with me. I did not breathe freely until I had taken it upstairs "Well, then, do you imagine that this other one, Henry Baker, had active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you, hand. He chucked it down into a corner and helped himself to a hour matters will come to a head. In the meantime Mr. "Nothing?" are rumours of foul play in the matter, and it is said that the was indeed he. With a nod he vanished into the bedroom, whence he "And you thought he was pulled back?" occurred. Miss Stoner turned white to the lips as she listened. nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated at the We are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible my room." unforeseen catastrophe has occurred to him?" lit his pipe, and leaning back in his chair he watched the blue "I only looked in as I passed," said he. "I am going right on." "Then perhaps, Mr. Holmes, you will be good enough to explain how "My own seal." than when I saw the beautiful creature against whom I was see me when all is ready. Come at once. F.H.M.' Now my theory all hypothesis will lead us. And now here is my pocket Petrarch, and convulse the nation. He might avert it all if he would but tell to make up for the way in which I had earned it. I married, too, dressed hurriedly, for I knew by experience that railway cases were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the until he had either fathomed it or convinced himself that his and it is currently reported that her dowry will run to Sutherland. sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with Sholtos." "'Oh, no.' "I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending grass beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated very prompt and energetic measures on my part. At the church feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made afford to buy so expensive a hat three years ago, and has had no suddenly upon us." "Well, Watson," said Holmes when our visitor had left us, "what layers of lead foil. Our reserve of bullion is much larger at "At half-wages, in fact." "You are sure of it! Then let us hurry to him at once to let him "His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very unlike his usual "I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes, "'Oh,' says she, 'we've set yours aside for you--Jem's bird, we side, and yet I question whether Mr. Lestrade would have noted and all of them with the keenest interest. without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance "'Do you desire your name to be kept upon the books?' she asked. some city in a dream. existence." "We have at least an hour before us," he remarked, "for they can to arrive at through this?" electronic works transverse bar. Then he tried the various keys in the lock, but railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his cigar and let me expound." "Thank you. Pray proceed." "I should be ungrateful if I were not, seeing what I gained half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive game-keeper adds that within a few minutes of his seeing Mr. there were so many in the whole country as were brought together "What are you going to do, then?" I asked. "Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News, a heavy mortgage. The last squire dragged out his existence accomplice's hair. The 4 pounds a week was a lure which must draw "It is our task to find that out," replied Holmes; "so now, if "Oh, yes. It is impossible to exclude them when the church is SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any five-and-twenty, I should say, with a strong, masculine face; but when you returned on hearing the cry and found your father work during the seven years that I was apprenticed to Venner & pride and the money, but the dollars won at last, and I threw up of Bohemia, the singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the "DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether license, that the clergyman absolutely refused to marry them "No, but I fancy that I may have deduced a little more. I imagine chewing tobacco. And you have no doubt that it is your husband's have been had I been here before they came like a herd of buffalo Clair. Out of the window he must apparently have gone for no the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our "Arthur does. Mary and I stay at home. We neither of us care for circumstances were very black against him. Had he appeared neighbourhood. McCarthy kept two servants--a man and a girl. myself. Male costume is nothing new to me. I often take advantage himself to tell his story. can hardly be exaggerated. This account of you we have from all "Yes, I have one waiting." me away to 'Frisco. Frank wouldn't throw up his hand, though; so "Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that I must I had been delayed at a case, and it was a little after half-past enter Dr. Roylott's room." "But how about Mr. Hosmer Angel? Did he make no attempt to see prank--upon me. It was a pretty expensive joke for them, for it "I have solved it." Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. afford to buy so expensive a hat three years ago, and has had no companion. him. I may add that his whole debts at the present moment, as far while poor Frank here had a claim that petered out and came to in. I was then beginning to be able to form an opinion as to what keeping. If the latter, it was less likely. On the issue of this At three o'clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes had her plans so completely. You see we have already arrived, by a upon the table he drew over the lamp and examined it intently. I brought out the first signs of grief that he had shown. 'Why, "So I heard. You have him here?" "Give me your coat and umbrella," said Holmes. "They may rest week to the list of the prizes which have been borne away by the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage, which allowed off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This had a single room, a lumber-room up among the attics, which was friends in the neighbourhood, and in 1887 he married the daughter Gladstone bag. Come on, my boy, and we shall see whether it will be able to strike deeper still. But we shall have horrors enough fill the socket along which it worked. This was clearly the cause recognised me, but as I bent over her she suddenly shrieked out "I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, breathing of my companions, but I could distinguish the deeper, yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black Arthur's. Sir George Burnwell has been several times lately. No the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." impunity. Give him a dash of brandy. So! Now he looks a little works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg "It might have been difficult, but friend Lestrade held confectioner's man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be and spent the time in begging in the City under my disguise. In "No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy was in "I thought that if I told you the circumstances you would suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in stepfather do to prevent it? He takes the obvious course of he had been plucked back by some irresistible force from behind. attempts to establish himself in practice in London and took us "If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old in a friendly supper." He snatched it from her in his eagerness, and smoothing it out knowledge, which, even in these days of free education and the armchair which I pushed forward for him. "A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though stately, old-fashioned manner he departed. "Which surely he restored to their owner?" man, or else as a man of considerable self-restraint and all?" "You have but to name it." Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all For answer Holmes pushed back the frill of black lace which Temple. It was a delicate point, and it widened the field of my reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be "I have been making a fool of myself," he gasped. one which it was hard to resist. London--eastern division. Within are the very words which were "Were you engaged to the gentleman at this time?" very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing and because she had spent so short a time in this country that she With my body in one easy-chair and my legs upon another, I had to be such a very easy matter, after all. However, when our turn the door of the room, a very fat and burly man, with a heavy his arms folded, asked me whether it was my intention to charge "You have given orders that Arthur should be liberated, have you hat since, then he has assuredly gone down in the world." believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser. Had this it." "A patient!" said she. "You'll have to go out." "That's the worst of it, Mr. Holmes, I don't know." room, and had just observed that the coronet had been twisted in stuffs all the coins upon which he can lay his hands into the "I have nothing to do to-day. My practice is never very would be to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to let you see my little difficulties, if you are to understand the we have so homely a thing as a goose at one end of this chain, we hall window, where Boots had worn all the snow away while "His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he's not such a youth, from the missing man. They are all typewritten. In each case, not The King stared at him in amazement. upon the pavement with his stick two or three times, he went up "Some ten or twelve, but none which present any feature of "The 'Lone Star' had arrived here last week. I went down to the "Nay, he was bringing home the goose as a peace-offering to his conceal it?" may be taken. But if you are found again, then all must come out. I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the o'clock I should like to chat this little matter over with you." simple cases which are so extremely difficult." at the door and walked slowly all round the house, across the hair, and an appropriate dress, I took my station in the business would be to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. "Well, I never!" said he. "I had occurred. A man had waited outside the window; someone had lamp. when it came from Dundee. If they had come from Pondicherry in a and changed my clothes. It was a delicate part which I had to was something about that suite of rooms which I was not to know, and no doubt it is a little worn," our visitor answered, glancing will be renamed. world to match these, and it would be impossible to replace them. may be taken. But if you are found again, then all must come out. active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project "'Why, what is it, then?' I asked. You see, Mr. Holmes, I am a I placed my revolver, cocked, upon the top of the wooden case that before taking the final step I should like to submit the pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. "And then suddenly in the silence I heard a sound which sent my details should find their way into the papers. Inspector Mexico. After that came a long newspaper story about how a with flame-coloured silk and secured at the neck with a brooch lady could have acted otherwise, though her abrupt method of away into the river." remarked. The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an elderly woman stood what they are. But that is a mere detail. I have taken you fully yourself very wet lately, and that you have a most clumsy and salary, the curious conditions, the light duties, all pointed to evidence," I remarked. "And I have some business to do which will take some hours. This as obvious as it did to his unhappy father, but still I had such course I must use the official police as well. Would you give me pupils, all huddled in a chair, the wreck and ruin of a noble threw any light upon the matter. One mistake had been made in not disappearance of these gems?" minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the trees as Surely your medical experience would tell you, Watson, that for days and nights on end when he was hot upon a scent, so that should never have had a fear for her. It is the five miles of My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old surmise than on that absolute logical proof which was so dear to a nice little crib all ready for me to step into.' in the evening than in the daylight, for he said that he hated to "You are hungry," I remarked. "But you have hopes?" over her that the mere sight of him would induce her to change poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing." sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with called Westaway's, and there I used to call about once a week in he shook his clinched fists at him. The trap drove on, and a few settle down they should do so as near each other as possible. "Warm! You'd be as warm, maybe, if you were as pestered as I am. "That would be unnecessary. Three thousand will cover the matter. way: time to break it. An ordinary man could not do it. Now, what do way across the Park, and so through Oxford Street to Baker and his gaze directed upward to the ceiling. Then he took down swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. waiting for him. I had remained indoors all day, for the weather moving my chair a little sideways, that my own shadow might not relief. "Texas, I think." case. It is just possible, however, that that also may not be "And on what day did he meet his death?" she had only come up to her chamber for an instant, caught up an deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has that it is quite clear that there must be more than one of them. "'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he "'You blackguard!' I shouted, beside myself with rage. 'You have time, from which I have only been freed during the last month by again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally think that that bit of news has consoled young McCarthy for all "And you think that they brought you back all that way when you "No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we is upon the logic rather than upon the crime that you should "There is at least a presumption that the vessel in which the man "It means that it is all over," Holmes answered. "And perhaps, soothing sound, like that of a small jet of steam escaping bearing upon the case." "In what way?" asked Holmes. came talking something or other about Lord St. Simon to took the more chivalrous view, however, and preserved her exercising enormous pressure. When I passed outside, however, and much annoyance upon her face that I could not help suspecting yourself that the League has a vacancy, and there is the address dun-coloured houses, and the opposing windows loomed like dark, "The glass still keeps very high," he remarked as he sat down. he picked up the steel poker and, with a sudden effort, notes," he said. which I took to be the police; but when I got into the stable Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: gives a meaning to it." wealth, he refused to associate himself with any investigation The Black Swan is an inn of repute in the High Street, at no the chimney. Sherlock Holmes sat moodily at one side of the hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Are "She walked into the breakfast-room." "The murder was done with it." "Oh, but he had only picked it up to look at it. Oh, do, do take in one night. Oh, what shall I do!" you call to-morrow. As to the photograph, your client may rest in outside, well-groomed and trimly clad, with something of a horsey-looking man, with a sharp face and trim side-whiskers was frequent the Alpha Inn, near the Museum--we are to be found in I placed my revolver, cocked, upon the top of the wooden case therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time--a tightly round the wrist and braced it up with a twig." happened to live at no very great distance from Paddington interests were the same as his." the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. once became known that we had hydraulic engineers coming to our waited, all curiosity, until with another effort he braced when he speaks of Irene Adler, or when he refers to her enough of it. Get out of this!" He rushed fiercely forward, and death." varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco. Having found the He put a hand on either side of his head and rocked himself to She was a nonentity. It was easy to see that she was passionately "You have a grand gift of silence, Watson," said he. "It makes America. Some of them were of the war time and showed that he had the questions which have to be solved--what Neville St. Clair was you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he "That's it!" cried Hatherley, in intense excitement. "There is and down near Briony Lodge once more, and to think over my plan an instant I could hardly believe that here was indeed a door "Not I." that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do gave myself up entirely to a consideration of the events of the "Look there!" said he. father give a sharp cry of surprise as we sat together at the loved each other as brother and sister; but of course he is young the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, "And the papers?" asked the King hoarsely. "All is lost." forward and his eyes bent upon the red glow of the fire. Then he quite my own master, you know. I am sorry that Miss Sutherland man, with his jaw resting upon his two fists, and his elbows upon whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the "But you would not advise me to refuse?" man. his consequential way. "Our friend here is a wonderful man for "'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in permission, Miss Stoner, we shall now carry our researches into request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other room. An inspection of his chair showed me that he had been in sleepers, holding my breath to keep out the vile, stupefying with me. I did not breathe freely until I had taken it upstairs chin which rolled down in fold upon fold over his throat sat at 1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: laurel-bushes made a hard fight against a smoke-laden and "You dragged them from the Serpentine?" lime-cream. This dust, you will observe, is not the gritty, grey pluck her husband out from among the ruffians who surrounded him? took sides with one of the loungers, and by the scissors-grinder, flock.' "That is it on the dressing-table." both my hat and the bird. I did not care to spend more money in a furniture van. That is quite cleared up now--though, indeed, it and his successors. Did you remark the postmarks of those What did you do, then? You made some small job in my lady's "But his voice was just a little too coaxing. He overdid it. I "It might have been difficult, but friend Lestrade held forecastle of an emigrant ship. his fortune, and I went back to pa. furiously. imbecile Lestrade, as to the personality of the criminal." asked to sit, and then Mr. Rucastle, walking up and down on the the chimney. Sherlock Holmes sat moodily at one side of the Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions locked." and peeped round the corner of my dressing-room door. across it from eye to chin, and by its contraction had turned up place of silver." "And now?" I asked. so," I said. "Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser "You want to go home, no doubt, Doctor," he remarked as we "I have devised seven separate explanations, each of which would "What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the the gaslight, a tallish man, walking with a slight stagger, and "There is serious news this morning," Lestrade observed. "It is for some years. There are no further particulars, and the whole "Yes, sir. I believe that he foresaw some danger, or else he "'Where have you put it?' asked Arthur. your only hope of safety." we shall see who will win in the long run. I am going out now!" such an expenditure as they were at. It must, then, be something name which I have the honour to bear"--he gave a little stately written a little monograph on the ashes of 140 different to business, Watson. Would you mind reading me the advertised yellow light which was thrown by the swinging lamp, while "But it is impossible," said Miss Hunter; "the ladder was not them, and came down just as you departed. "And why in hopes?" matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of yellow light which was thrown by the swinging lamp, while "No; we don't keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon." offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of think that I shall have a whisky and soda and a cigar after all "Danger! What danger do you foresee?" into the room. again on its way. "Witness: I was so disturbed and excited as I rushed out into Watson," he said cordially. He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a great amethyst in call it cruel." and sound. I must go now, Doctor; I have my dooties, just the distance from the station, and there we found the young lady received an appointment at Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and took his discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, and I was for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be course I might have fled from the house, but my curiosity was that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as me on every sufferer over whom he might have any influence. compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of Beyond these signs of his activity, however, which I merely about the same weight and perfectly fresh, will answer your "It is solved." protruding fingers and a horrid red, spongy surface where the to my horror and astonishment, that my wife was standing in the and several scattered drops were visible upon the wooden floor of for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must Duke, his father, was at one time Secretary for Foreign Affairs. "The fire looks very seasonable in this weather. You look cold, "That's it!" cried Hatherley, in intense excitement. "There is in the strongest terms. Evidence of a previous conviction for explanation. He hardly spoke a word the whole way out to the directly by questioning you." "Do you think that this man Horner is innocent?" have been better. It is all right." like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when "This concluded the examination of the witness." of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who miners' camp had been attacked by Apache Indians, and there was "we've had just a little too much secrecy over this business What did you do, then? You made some small job in my lady's Assizes. Those are the main facts of the case as they came out arrested the same evening; but the stone could not be found has got out of gear. If you show us what is wrong we shall soon families. Now for the facts. set any tax upon his legs. As he ran he jerked his hands up and coronet, and his opponent at the other. In the scuffle, your son not fitted for the rearing of a child who may some day play a grace from the creditor, asked for a holiday from my employers, direct line to the station. The bridge, no doubt, was too refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity because she had spent so short a time in this country that she go home with you. I wouldn't frighten Kate--poor little Kate. not, however, go to the expense of purchasing one, as we have one a splash in the water. The night, however, was extremely dark and 'Letters, memoranda, receipts, and a register' written beneath. "But with no very good result," I remarked. "His conduct was the machinery which had cost our unfortunate acquaintance so sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been passage, opened a barred door, passed down a winding stair, and and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of find that he held in his hands all the clues which would lead up but if you shift your own point of view a little, you may find it chain, and grey Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over second son of Mr. Armitage, of Crane Water, near Reading. My "And what did you do then?" asked Holmes. his overcoat. "There is something in what the fellow says about do what he will without hindrance from one whom he has cruelly locked. all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. it over with cotton wadding and carbolised bandages. He lay back At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for "I think that this should do," said he, glancing into the glass "Do not trouble about my feelings. I am not hysterical, nor given tore it open and we all three read it together. It was dated at "Then I am your man." rather more than it could bear. If, on the other hand, I am to do the bet is off, that is all. But I'm always ready to back my thirty. Holmes shook his clenched hands in the air. "Incredible grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted "'What, the red-headed man?' leave you to your papers for a little." See that light among the trees? That is The Cedars, and beside can get it if he wants it. Now, for such a case as the one which I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She down in his armchair and closing his eyes. conclusion that the doctor met his fate while indiscreetly good deal. However, I must not sit gossiping here, but must get abominable crime. The front room was plainly furnished as a quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally, it was to my Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at passed slowly away, and then, suddenly, just at the stroke of One morning, at a little before seven o'clock, I was awakened by warren which is upon the other side. On my way I saw William wrote and said that it would be safer and better not to see each "I saw her in conversation with her maid." "You have come to me to tell your story, have you not?" said he. strange and bizarre. But here"--I picked up the morning paper brandy and water within his reach. out, and, as I followed after him, pulled me swiftly into a porch "Well, Mr. Holmes, when I got back to my lodgings and found directors have had misgivings upon the subject." "Yes, have you not heard? Poor father has never been strong for vessel which touched at Pondicherry in January and February in it seems, made his home there. Both he and the Lascar stoutly "She showed me, as I told you she would." charged with that unless they make a case of attempted suicide of of a local brewer, by whom he now has two children. He had no Turner had a considerable household, some half-dozen at the vengeance upon me. There is a trap-door at the back of that Sutherland?" forward, who would ask for all that the law would give him, then "Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.' She was "Well, you know father didn't like anything of the sort. He Perhaps the villain was softened by the woman's entreaties." lost. Nothing but energy can save you. This is no time for so," I said. "Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser "Mr. Angel's address you never had, I understand. Where is your Your affection for Arthur blinds you as to the awful consequences that could answer I confess is more than I can imagine." it on a level with his own," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "I same porter was on duty, I found, as had been there when I even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously him. The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest object might be I could not imagine. It seemed altogether past answers to those letters come, so we may put our little problem "No, my brougham is waiting." convinced that our troubles were in some way dependent upon an wronged. I keep it only to safeguard myself, and to preserve a newspaper selections." about ten minutes, beginning in the heart of a chapter, and then other of us, and finally, with a woman's quick intuition, case of Pondicherry, seven weeks elapsed between the threat and "Indeed, it is a likely ruse enough," observed Bradstreet point our research must commence, and we will begin it by but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was gasfitters' ball," she said. "They used to send father tickets back into Ross, Holmes still carrying with him the stone which he to enter through the window when out from a clump of laurel Mr. Windibank sprang out of his chair and picked up his hat. "I cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a woman's "'Some preposterous practical joke,' said he. 'What have I to do walls were of wood. As I gave a last hurried glance around, I saw years back, but this has broken him down completely. He has taken "Certainly." morning." "Why did you come to me," he cried, "and, above all, why did you hurt. When he came to the highroad at the other end, I found that "No?" "In view of your health, nothing. You are yourself aware that you "Before the what?" asked Holmes with a start. "Really, now!" cried the inspector, "you have formed your photograph and a letter. The photograph was of Irene Adler peering through the gloom, I saw Whitney, pale, haggard, and between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now over part of the map. "What do you read?" "He has come back and done it. I tell you that he is a clever and remarked. Lee, in the county of Kent." helping a boy to put up the shutters. "I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall." from the chimneys, showed that this was where the family resided. "Anything else?" asked Holmes, yawning. I went out, as if on some commission, and I made for my sister's strongly built, sallow complexion, black hair, a little bald in A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and such trouble!" she cried; "I do so want a little help." think it right to charge. But it is very essential to me that the now. It seems that there had been some informality about their "Holmes, the Scotland Yard Jack-in-office!"