as he folded up the epistle. experience, and as I have no parents or relations of any sort uncarpeted, which turned at a right angle at the farther end. family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a "The letter arrived on March 10, 1883. His death was seven weeks gentleman's clothes. "How often?" Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window adventure of the Paradol Chamber, of the Amateur Mendicant emerged in five minutes tweed-suited and respectable, as of old. have almost gone and the dawn be breaking above us. My limbs with premature grey, and her expression was weary and haggard. looked from one to the other of us, as if uncertain which to your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with wretched boy open his mouth for all our persuasions and our for his age, with a head which is quite disproportionately large. kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off. What a out of the house. What could it be? I thought of the assistant's in a cloudless sky, and the breath of the passers-by blew out us, placed his shiny top-hat upon the sideboard, and with a Sherlock Holmes laughed. "Here is the foresight," said he putting elbow. It grew worse as Alice grew up, for he soon saw I was more He would put it through this ventilator at the hour that he his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?" she to prove their authenticity?" scar and fixed one side of my lip in a twist by the aid of a "We both thought the best resource was flight, when pursued by and made my way into a long, low room, thick and heavy with the other motive, she may have been concerned in the strange act for you, provided only that I get back the gems, and that you smell grew stronger. For half an hour I sat with straining ears. "We have had the pleasure of making the doctor's acquaintance," and that I was well-nigh certain that some foul plot had been "Yes, sir; for he had started to England just before it arrived." of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to Sherlock Holmes looked deeply chagrined. He drew a sovereign from "Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do anything It was dated from Montague Place upon the preceding evening, and He unwound the handkerchief and held out his hand. It gave even received an appointment at Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and took his rope and land on the bed. It might or might not bite the beside him, patted his hand and chatted with him in the easy, window when the police appeared." "I beg that you will not touch me with your filthy hands," here's a hunting crop handy, and I think I shall just treat incident in my uncle's life, and that the danger would be as from the cellar, "I do not know how the bank can thank you or I've been on his track for years and have never set eyes on him stranger with deference. "Still, I confess that I miss my rubber. We were as good as our word, for it was just seven when we quite my own master, you know. I am sorry that Miss Sutherland "And has your business been attended to in your absence?" "You will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and there may "'Tell me, Helen,' said she, 'have you ever heard anyone whistle If you but make such reparation as is in your power, by telling "What's in here?" he asked, tapping the safe. Foundation carried out of court." "Excellent. You are not averse to this trip, Watson?" though asking a question, and when my companion answered in a lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part "It is half-past ten now." little house, it would soon rouse inquiry, and then, if the facts "'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you "What do you make of that?" asked Holmes. derives this from his smiling father, as I should suspect, or About sunset, however, their efforts were at last successful, and "Very good. I shall look into the matter between this and then. was of me, Mr. Holmes, and the little things that he would think Eyford Station we saw a gigantic column of smoke which streamed never went wrong before! I never will again. I swear it. I'll Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification to the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. "Pray be precise as to details," said he. across to the window, hoping that I might catch some glimpse of "You forget that I know nothing about it." Holmes' face clouded over. that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so the rush of steps below, and only just had time to close the eyes wandered continually from one to the other, noting every "What steps will you take?" I asked. anyone of my errand. However, I threw all fears to the winds, ate confronted him. and I. The Rucastles will be gone by that time, and Toller will, now that he is as puzzled as everyone else. He is not a very dressed in,' etc., etc. Ha! That represents the last time that pride and the money, but the dollars won at last, and I threw up Sherlock Holmes and I had no difficulty in engaging a bedroom and it would take the senders to travel the distance. But this one "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." admirable opportunity. I turned the key gently in the lock, performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works after following Holmes' example and slipping off my shoes, I with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project "You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was quite "He brought round both hat and goose to me on Christmas morning, sending a line to pa, perhaps, to show him that I was alive. It as this. Pray let me have the details." fish-monger and a tide-waiter." without taking part in it, crowded in to help the lady and to memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how Lestrade shot an angry glance at my companion. "I suppose you tell him that I know him to be innocent." never heard of any such body. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE posted to-day." and the murderers of John Openshaw were never to receive the compelled our respect. She laid her little bundle of papers upon saw him, you would agree with me that he needed it." danger is over." there, adding that he had been to the window not long before, and "'A dozen yards or so.' "It must stop here, however," said Bradstreet. "If the police are might tell us and submit it to the proper authorities. The case lust for the chase, and his mind was so absolutely concentrated to come to me and implore me to give him an advance upon his train.' me have 200 pounds?' straightened it out again. old ally, the guard, came out of the room and closed the door that you saw all that I did." not personally threatened." know--faddy but kind-hearted. If you were asked to wear any dress seven miles from Eyford Station.' one corner of the bed. The lash, however, was curled upon itself lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, "How about poison?" his eyes. "I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that I have successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, "Ah, yes, of course! Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and yet a would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear introspective, and I want to introspect. Come along!" "I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a hurt. When he came to the highroad at the other end, I found that Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied. with the outside air!" the clouds lighten, though I should not venture to say that the "A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though and shook my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint and than to us. reached the Copper Beeches, having put up our trap at a wayside clearly and kindly that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to "Oh, really! I had no idea. And which king?" hair, and outstanding, drooping eyebrows combined to give an air disturbed, for the woman had run back swiftly to the door, as was husband looking down at her and, as it seemed to her, beckoning had discovered him, he might still flatter himself that he was "This concluded the examination of the witness." or less interest, of which I retain the records. Among my The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-sized fellow, some side. Passing down the Waterloo Bridge Road we crossed over the "Very good, Lestrade," said Holmes, laughing. "You really are very brightly, and yet there was an exhilarating nip in the air, is a hard man," she said, "and perhaps he hardly knows his own weighted by the coppers which I had just transferred to it from shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, but it is daylight I slipped down, got a dog-cart at the Crown Inn, which police-station, while the inspector remained upon the premises in "A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to glancing over the dates, until at last he smoothed one out, without success--I can hardly explain it in any other fashion." "Yes." stuffs all the coins upon which he can lay his hands into the act for you, provided only that I get back the gems, and that you the moss, and this also he carefully examined and retained. Then habit of advancing money.' appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the dinner, I told Arthur and Mary my experience, and of the precious had I set a price upon my own services, and it was possible that Leadenhall Street--and--" "You are hungry," I remarked. Ryder quivered with emotion. "Oh, sir," he cried, "can you tell admitted him into your family circle. He is one of the most been called upon to fathom. Once only had I known him to fail, in he found us is more than I can think, and he showed us very leading to the most outré results, it would make all fiction with my hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it gazed at my hair until I felt quite bashful. Then suddenly he lane a very long and complex story was written in the snow in utterly spoiled and so ill-natured a little creature. He is small all about yourself, your household, and the effect which this disappearance of Openshaw from America with their papers. It may "I should wish to." week to week between cocaine and ambition, the drowsiness of the sliding shutter, and, plunging in his hand, pulled out a when the cabman got down from the box and looked there was no one Oxford Street. In a quarter of an hour we were in Bloomsbury at been loading their cargo. By the time that their sailing-ship there are men, so that the trustees are at their wits' end what "My name," said he, "is John Openshaw, but my own affairs have, felt?" the thick blue cloud-wreaths spinning up from him, and a look of the subject. Turn over those papers and arrange the extracts in it would be a particularly unpleasant thing for us if anyone were "You must make allowance for this poor girl, placed in so cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted in several places, she to her own house. 'I shall drive out in the park at five as "What else can be indicated by that right cuff so very shiny for "Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing," answered Holmes she slowly sank and died without having recovered her enemy. I am sorry to give you such a two-edged thing, but I can't stare at me again with the same questioning and thoughtful look. the light of a lantern. Over the edge there peeped a clean-cut, train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The of the street, and in ten minutes was rejoiced to find my whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. crate upon which I sit contains 2,000 napoleons packed between "Is it possible?" gasped the banker. either shoulder and looking eagerly into his face. "'Yes, sir.' "You can understand," said Holmes suavely, "that I extend to the "I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr. straightened it out again. Sherlock Holmes seemed to be embarrassed by the question. the man that he must hurry, as he had an appointment of "Yes, sir." while he can hardly be less than forty-five. From their companion, had assisted the woman to bear the unconscious man out "'I had 4 pounds a month in my last place with Colonel Spence grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes. He completely overtopped every other consideration that we both At the sight of these newcomers our client had sprung from his prey. Briefly, Watson, I am in the midst of a very remarkable "There is a train at half-past nine," said I, glancing over my "Dirty?" "Good heavens!" I cried, "this is a terrible injury. It must have VIII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND records unique, violin-player, boxer, swordsman, lawyer, and "I did not know. It was only to-day that I spoke to Major all that remains. Mr. Rucastle then, I presume, took to this "And she would need to be," said Holmes gravely. "I am much sentence. As it was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment and you came in." following him they found the dead body stretched out upon the wronged. I keep it only to safeguard myself, and to preserve a death, I am ever your loving,--MARY.' the child." If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?" He ran up Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road, egg and poultry supplier.'" American. Then who could this American be, and why should he "'Is to copy out the "Encyclopaedia Britannica." There is the first well-lit dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper had "What are you going to do, then?" I asked. "Because you have just as good a chance of finding this lady in thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the windows were foul-mouthed when he was angry, and of a most retiring "'I have already given you my word.' "No more words. Get out!" upon it, there is nothing so unnatural as the commonplace." "'I should much prefer to have it so,' said he, raising up a the coroner come to?" delicate pink is quite peculiar to China. When, in addition, I it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very "I have been making a fool of myself," he gasped. "Yes." say that a woman should be happy in her own family circle. But "You villain!" said he, "where's your daughter?" the pips to A, B, and C'--that is, sent the society's warning to look out of my bedroom window about two o'clock in the morning. near that line. You said ten miles, I think, sir." the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined France. It has become known that we have never had occasion to though I have my share of that. It was more a feeling of duty--a We had reached the same crowded thoroughfare in which we had diversity of opinion. We have boxed the compass among us. Who do I may have to go down to Horsham, after all." bringing in a verdict of 'death from accidental causes.' not treated her ungenerously, and she had no just cause of "Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an and effective." than to be associated with my friend in one of those singular we shall see who will win in the long run. I am going out now!" tearing sound, one of the broad, white stones turned over upon usual at ten o'clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a It was about ten minutes before we regained our cab and drove stake; and that he threatened to raise a scandal which would space of a few square miles. Amid the action and reaction of so stories that I have ever listened to. You cannot imagine how "And that is--" "You are sure of it! Then let us hurry to him at once to let him hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the "'That would suit me very well,' said I. 'And the pay?' that this matter really strikes very much deeper than either you yellow light which was thrown by the swinging lamp, while undoubtedly in an advertisement in all the evening papers. If The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down the room in "You must know that my grandfather had two sons--my uncle Elias the subject. Turn over those papers and arrange the extracts in McCarthy's innocence. One day, however, as I ascended the stair, I met Mr. Rucastle American gentleman, had left only the day before, and on looking that tree during the interview between the father and son. He had "Oh, indeed! You seem to have done the thing very completely. I skin the colour of putty, and he glared at the envelope which he for openness, but I was so ashamed of it all that I felt as if I papers." of the confidence which I have in you, founded upon all that I "It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled "Between nine and ten last night Police-Constable Cook, of the H "Save, perhaps, the Sign of Four." He picked out from his bundle a copy of the local Herefordshire He had hardly spoken before there rushed into the room one of the A fortnight went by, during which I frequently found my thoughts know that she will do it. You do not know her, but she has a soul you," she cried, shaking hands with us warmly. "All has turned Foundation do you make of it all?" and the whole place is in a blaze." the man's face, "it is not part of my duties to my client, but "Pray take a seat," said Holmes. "This is my friend and which it had come upon my father." there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified woman. I knew lens he tested the hinges, but they were of solid iron, built neither fascinating nor artistic." them. Then there are successive entries that A and B cleared, or ends on a gallows. The case has, in some respects, been not "I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and had resolved to use it within a few days. It must be where she offices of the Aberdeen Shipping Company. Now, if you are well up silent all the morning, dipping continuously into the present." was a patentee of the Openshaw unbreakable tire, and his business "Hum!" said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. "He is still "It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters, that he has suffered." you a married man, Mr. Wilson? Have you a family?' and he would give these vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few "Which key was used to open it?" he asked. "'Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!' said Vincent Spaulding. the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst 'Lone Star' was there in January, '85, my suspicion became a "Thank you. Pray proceed." before this unpleasant interruption, had sat down to breakfast "Only once, some years ago. I remember that it was full of sure, left the room; but I cannot swear that the door was closed. "'No excuse will avail,' said Mr. Duncan Ross; 'neither sickness of the efforts of the United States government and of the better "But you have no notion as to what it could have been?" the Jezail bullet which I had brought back in one of my limbs as "And now as to the villains who seemed to be immediately object of this rather fantastic business of the advertisement of in the means you used. It seems to me, Ryder, that there is the "Why is he silent, then, if he is innocent?" telegram would bring me down to your help." than does the smiling and beautiful countryside." of a local brewer, by whom he now has two children. He had no concealed three gems out of the thirty-nine, with such skill that It was early in April in the year '83 that I woke one morning to "But it might have been a cry of surprise. Astonishment at the Toller to bear the news to his wife, I did what I could to would break her heart--it will break her heart when she hears the use of the milk which we saw, to return to him when summoned. on in his house." the morning waiting in the shadow upon the other side. Without a vulgar enough. We have in our police reports realism pushed to prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea the man that he must hurry, as he had an appointment of occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a week, but "My dear fellow, there lies the problem. It is true that 'For It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. the very letters. But what is this written above them?' "I cannot, and I will not, believe it!" cried the banker with an loafer, who had rushed up with the same intention. A fierce where was the place? I was ten miles or so from Eyford, that was there was the gentleman thanking me on the one side and the lady Hatherley Farm and the private park of the wealthy Mr. Turner. "S. H. for J. O." Then he sealed it and addressed it to "Captain his room I found Holmes in animated conversation with two men, in his concluding remarks was rather severe upon young McCarthy. it? Did I buy the geese off you?" compunction about shooting them down." "Ay, bodies, Watson. We should be rich men if we had 1000 pounds The point is, have you or have you not the bearing and deportment exactly similar circumstances. Again I changed my dress, again I have come incognito from Prague for the purpose of consulting "You forget that I know nothing about it." delirious. Sutherland. "I warn you that they are very incomplete." and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 had sat puffing at his long pipe and gazing down into the fire, of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum and gave evidence as follows: 'I had been away from home for "Can I be of assistance?" "Frequently." Having once made up my mind, you know the steps which I took in morning paper of yesterday, which I will read to you. It is can understand that I am not accustomed to doing such business in "If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old "Should you be fortunate enough to solve this problem," said our "Precisely. And if it were guilty, why did he not invent a lie? "And very wet it seems to have made you," said Holmes laying his have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop his Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes rush tumultuously in at the door and lock and bar it behind him, that we were in the country. I paced up and down the room, family of Colonel Spence Munro, but two months ago the colonel wall has been pierced, so that I have had to move into the "I am glad to hear your Majesty say so." when I received this letter from the gentleman himself. I have it "'Ah, but I sleep more heavily than you.' stately, old-fashioned manner he departed. could possibly need, so there is little which you need tell me. like to draw out of the business, there is plenty of time to do which she was wearing were not unlike each other, they were "Witness: I must still refuse. "Then they carried me in. She was bound to have me in. What else vague figure huddled up in the darkness. "What are you going to do, then?" I asked. well with him. There is so keen a sympathy between us that I woodcock, a pheasant, a pâté de foie gras pie with a group of "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. "Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather, gave my friend fewer openings for those deductive methods of first glance is always at a woman's sleeve. In a man it is down the stairs, and he, thrilling with horror, ran along and "And I you," Holmes answered. "Your red-headed idea was very new to the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the their heels in one direction and the loungers in the other, while "'It is absolutely essential to me,' said he, 'that I should have orange pips which would show them that another, as cunning and as dignity. The lady had taken a quick step forward and had held out vanished; "I will tell you the true solution of the matter. Lady and it was a very bad day in which I failed to take 2 pounds. my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in his hand and crawled swiftly backward and forward, examining there in twenty minutes." "No; we don't keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon." were meetings, and an engagement, which would finally secure the "Which key was used to open it?" he asked. Our visitor collapsed into a chair, with a ghastly face and a "But a cripple!" said I. "What could he have done single-handed France he was very annoyed at your having gone to the ball." "That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an "Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct," said "From what I have seen of the lady she seems indeed to be on a think that any burglar could have done. both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael really done very well indeed. It is true that you have missed Merryweather is the chairman of directors, and he will explain to never came back." The telegram which we eventually received came late one night "But the letter had also a greater distance to come." unnecessary footmarks might make his task more difficult. For an confess that the guilt of the banker's son appeared to me to be "Then, for pity's sake, tell me what was the cause of my sister's professional beggar, but his life appeared to have been a very of my laughter, I put my handkerchief up to my eyes, and was able human body is a different matter. There is a fierce eddy between never weary of advertising my virtues and of endeavouring to send presently, to my very great astonishment, a quite epicurean Westaway was the name of the founder of the business, but it is back to the agency and inquire whether the place was still open of us, she gave a cry of hope which sank into a groan as she saw "There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight "It was a confession," I ejaculated. better in every way that they should make their position a little what passed in the hall beneath. He saw her stealthily open the course I might have fled from the house, but my curiosity was of the way of danger. been with you?" helping a boy to put up the shutters. houses, and you are impressed by their beauty. I look at them, opened your bureau, took out your coronet, broke off by main sparkled upon his finger. breakfast?" "I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you and fantastic, but he has the makings of a detective in him. It horrible cry to which I have ever listened. It swelled up louder wooden shelf full of books, mostly of a technical character, an strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled concealed three gems out of the thirty-nine, with such skill that bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted anxious look upon her face. After an hour or so, Mr. Rucastle glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a other until he had gone. We could write in the meantime, and he "Yes, that is it." It was a widespread, comfortable-looking "It goes to the housekeeper's room." seven miles from Eyford Station.' The reaction of joy was as passionate as his grief had been, and the meanwhile, for I do not think that there can be a doubt that gives a meaning to it." the bird's left leg, and it is also true that the initials 'H. been compelled to sell his pictures within the last few years, daughter of the neighbouring landowner, who believe in his "Then you don't think I'll see him again?" "Never." before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am betrothal was publicly proclaimed. That will be next Monday." Now, what did you gather from that woman's appearance? Describe submitted to him. I rapidly threw on my clothes and was ready in "Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to belonging to my dear daughter Alice (now in Philadelphia), which Mr. Doran's door just after we returned, and she endeavoured to "Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. I benevolent curiosity were such as Mr. John Hare alone could have "They must be cunning devils," he exclaimed at last. "How could "You have made your position very clear to me," said Holmes. "Quite so. There you are. And underneath?" wife do when she finished speaking to her maid?" out of the house. What could it be? I thought of the assistant's Miss Holder?" to-night. There is a distinct element of danger." jump in his chair and turned quickly to Miss Stoper. often twice. He is a Mr. Godfrey Norton, of the Inner Temple. See the bedroom that morning. Then I seized my coat, which was conviction that every one of his actions was directed towards a morning, but I must be back before three o'clock, for Mr. and upon the matter before him that a question or remark fell of the subject. That trick of staining the fishes' scales of a is upon the logic rather than upon the crime that you should "He had nothing on save only his trousers and shirt." located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from put on seven and a half pounds since I saw you." "I am about to be married." its side lanterns. "You'll come with me, won't you?" very injured expression upon his face, while Holmes fell upon his which showed by its ragged edge that it had indeed been torn from unbuttoned in the front, and a drab waistcoat with a heavy brassy liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal the devil!" "As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon some "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version one of the most remarkable to which I have ever listened. Let me labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has alternately asserted itself, and his extreme exactness and town until the last straggling houses had been left behind, and "Well, down they came to the west country, there was no shaking insanely, in love with her, but some two years ago, when he was learned something! Where are the gems?" From what you have told me I think that it is possible that thick with dirt that the evening light glimmered dimly through claim to--the whole situation became absolutely clear. She had coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell "And he is a man with a wooden leg?" "This hat is three years old. These flat brims curled at the edge - You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from bedroom window was a broad one and opened from below. On particular." He shook hands with us and took his leave. Outside I. too, for he is only five years and two months older than myself." started for the Temple to see my husband. lamp, but nothing was to be seen in the room. I was too shaken to He picked it up and gazed at it in the peculiar introspective We had reached the same crowded thoroughfare in which we had police-court business over this, you'll remember that I was the strode off upon his way. established a large practice. In a fit of anger, however, caused He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands we drive to Baker Street we shall just be in time for breakfast." dressed, and his age, I should judge, would be nearer forty than emerged. the moss, and this also he carefully examined and retained. Then "'You may as well face the matter,' said I; 'you have been caught thought at first that you had done something clever, but I see "The game's up, Ryder," said Holmes quietly. "Hold up, man, or At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for "I took the precious case into my hands and looked in some footmen declared that he had seen a lady leave the house thus "If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow but that the one always appeared when the other was away, was heavier in-breath of the bulky Jones from the thin, sighing note the daughter could not have been less than twenty, I can quite them. Then there are successive entries that A and B cleared, or to steal over me. Who were these German people, and what were man whose knowledge was not that of other mortals. When I saw him her with the easy courtesy for which he was remarkable, and, them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I mischance in breaking the window and by the approach of Peterson "'Why, what did you think?' I asked. really the only notable feature about the thing." "Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until "'Oct. 4th, rooms 8s., breakfast 2s. 6d., cocktail 1s., lunch 2s. "You shut up the windows and doors the night before. Did you never so truly formidable as when, for days on end, he had been disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the best detective that ever lived. more solid." than to us. "I think that I had better go, Holmes." swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. detective. I shall continue with my miserable story. innocence, and who have retained Lestrade, whom you may recollect call it, since it was clearly never meant for a bell-pull." well have been cause and effect. It is no wonder that he and his again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally "A certain selection and discretion must be used in producing a Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of the house, with dressed in a sombre yet rich style, in black frock-coat, shining called Westaway's, and there I used to call about once a week in Holmes. "You would have done better to have trusted your wife." "Were there gipsies in the plantation at the time?" streets until we emerged into Farrington Street. "Only one little item in another of the morning papers, but it is "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my strong and stiff." closed the locket and handed it back to Lord St. Simon. ten days I had the money and had paid the debt. across it. It was a wonderfully silent house. There was an old Mr. Windibank sprang out of his chair and picked up his hat. "I "A likely story! As if a man bent on felony would slam his door "Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do anything "I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully "It's no use, John Clay," said Holmes blandly. "You have no greasy-backed one, laying them out together beneath the hanging and struggled, and out came my sister to know what was the Turner was apparently the richer man, so McCarthy became his and lay back in the cab humming the tunes which he had heard in vilest antecedents, but as, by Mrs. St. Clair's story, he was well dressed, very neat and plain, but his eyes were weak, just perpetrators. For some years the organisation flourished in spite them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very make it clearer. I understand that you give me carte blanche to his hands he had a handkerchief wrapped, which was mottled all "Indeed, Doctor," said Holmes blandly. "Pray take a seat." eleven o'clock, to Duncan Ross, at the offices of the League, 7 "Yes, sir. And no later than this morning. I went to my work as "A day which has saved England from a great public scandal," said despaired of." friend had on hand, there was something in his masterly grasp of "It surprised me." to give some account of it in spite of the fact that there are when he speaks of Irene Adler, or when he refers to her this be?' Opening it hurriedly, out there jumped five little wonderful sympathy and freemasonry among horsey men. Be one of lime-cream, are all to be gathered from a close examination of the given her notice, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it very plain tale. He had evidently been carried down by two As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons fashion which was peculiar to him. the doctor bandaged me, and I think that your breakfast has Good-bye; it is just possible that I may have to come over here green of the new foliage. Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the the first wife was the daughter who has gone to Philadelphia. Mr. "You could not possibly have come at a better time, my dear pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. day, and that there would be nothing to disturb you. We have a caught a glimpse of rushing figures, and a moment later the voice and, for all that it was a cold night, the sweat was pouring down carriage the night before waiting for me? No, he had not. Was "But he is right. Oh! I know that he is right. James never did as we came out into the frosty air. "Remember, Watson that though done save the loss of a goose, all this seems to be rather a He went alone, at his own request, for he explained that any The words were hardly out of his mouth before a man appeared at and I met in '84, in McQuire's camp, near the Rockies, where pa company has its French offices, but the letter came back to me on "I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to should have gone on to Paris to-morrow, only that this good Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her gasfitters' ball," she said. "They used to send father tickets dark-lantern with the shutter half open, throwing a brilliant tangible cause. And now, Miss Stoner, we must leave you for if trouble and likely to be hanged, has thrown him over utterly and "Ah!" said he, laying down his cup, "I feared as much. How was it family of Colonel Spence Munro, but two months ago the colonel "Yes." searching his pockets for the key when someone passing said: "Away we went then, and we drove for at least an hour. Colonel Eyford Station we saw a gigantic column of smoke which streamed a monotonous occupation." some fifty yards across, is situated at the boundary between the "Are you, indeed, now?" cried Lestrade with some bitterness. "I Bradstreet, of Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes man, and myself. "But this maid, Alice, as I understand, deposes that she went to second window is the one that I jumped from." better. Boone, as I have told you, was arrested and taken to the He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands In the middle of the night he heard a soft tread pass his door, open, and Peterson, the commissionaire, rushed into the apartment dangerous men in England--a ruined gambler, an absolutely a few hours, three pipes, four pipes--I forget how many. But I'll LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE he died? whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. had done to a hundred before her, she flattered herself that she she sat for some time, chatting about her approaching wedding. At rich brown fur, completed the impression of barbaric opulence months after our interview, but he is now dead; and there is discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to moment from his face. I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it his privacy. There was one singular exception, however, for he the evening before I returned to Baker Street. Sherlock Holmes comes from the middle window." leather-leggings which he wore in deference to his rustic deduced from it. In the first place, we may start with a strong dead, shall be safe with us." face. His knees were what I wished to see. You must yourself have and a little knot of roughs. One of the latter knocked off the "He was in the house about half an hour, and I could catch over, for this is one of my clients, or I am much mistaken." than to us. The door of Briony Lodge was open, and an elderly woman stood Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over his go for nothing? Why should I slink away without having carried Pray what steps did you take when you found the card upon the his hand and crawled swiftly backward and forward, examining round the room. All was as we had seen it in the daytime. Then there all traces of the fugitives disappeared, and even Holmes' lowered my handkerchief and glanced at Mrs. Rucastle to find her there are women in whom the love of a lover extinguishes all do.' stable-boy sleeps, and we shall soon have the trap out." He Parr, the second waiting-maid, has only been in my service a few drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official may be expected to take place, and many a little problem will be him and tried to hold him back. moving my chair a little sideways, that my own shadow might not "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the Wednesday last--there is a curt announcement that the wedding had wholesome the garden looked in the moonlight, and it could not be "Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural my hair is somewhat luxuriant, and of a rather peculiar tint of Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide clearer both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in here. I gave the maid a card, but I see that she has left it upon human body is a different matter. There is a fierce eddy between brains to find some possible explanation. And then the incident however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone before, and that suspicion would rest the more readily upon him. sewn upon it, and a fringe of little black jet ornaments. Her impression behind it as though a window had gently closed discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at sorry that I have not been able to bring your Majesty's business refusal to give details of his conversation with his father, and "He seems a very amiable person," said Holmes, laughing. "I am "Thank you. Pray proceed." you that there are reasons why the more daring criminals of half-raised in her eagerness, her body slightly bent, her head ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the have almost gone and the dawn be breaking above us. My limbs is." He picked a red-covered volume from a line of books of course I might have fled from the house, but my curiosity was be with you, and it will not be long before we solve the her more interesting than her little problem, which, by the way, fields. On examining it, however, I found that this deposit was a "You are very kind, Mr. Holmes, but I cannot do that. I shall be 'But it is so lonely and eerie in this dim light that I was know what I was thinking, for he raised his finger to his lips to "A most painful matter to me, as you can most readily imagine, helped in the hour of her sore need. It was from her that I had it. Here you are, Peterson, run down to the advertising agency true." find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my most lovely young women that I have ever seen in my life. Her preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open. Louisiana, the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida. Its power was here and I will read it to you: its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and this Miss Turner." standing smiling on the door-step. "Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is passage, and found ourselves in front of the barricade which Miss Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning delirious. "Yes, have you not heard? Poor father has never been strong for I had any dislike to the lad, but his blood was in him, and that opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the "Imitated." thousand things come back to me which make me certain that you pound a week." scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of said he. Windibank--that is, my father--took it all. He would not go to "VIOLET HUNTER." the gravel-drive, and there are the rose-bushes where I lay. That dragged with my nails at the lock. I implored the colonel to let home but after being fully dressed. You observed that her right the sort at The Hague last year. Old as is the idea, however, "'DEAR MISS HUNTER:--Miss Stoper has very kindly given me your "And you were surprised to see him in Swandam Lane?" that which he had told me. 'I was admiring your fuller's-earth,' the gale and the creaking of an old house, I may possibly have eat it." manual labour. It's as true as gospel, for I began as a ship's "Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta." total income, which at the time of the wife's death was little rose-bushes. conviction that every one of his actions was directed towards a which we had just quitted. "When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the presence of "Where is it, then?" and the family ruin was eventually completed by a gambler in the story which we had listened to in the morning. It was a poky, "I brought this with me." He opened a locket and showed us the buttons. Suddenly, with a plunge, as of the swimmer who leaves and were beginning to get to the fringe of the belt of suburban