I am not mistaken, to resolve all our doubts." Clair, of Lee." "And I to find an enemy." "Very well, sir. And this stone?" his way to the farther side of this and lay down once more upon delirium, sometimes that it may have referred to some band of along the track which ran through the meadows, and so by way of allusion to a rat. casket in which, as it afterwards transpired, the Countess was "The 'Lone Star' had arrived here last week. I went down to the "You reasoned it out beautifully," I exclaimed in unfeigned "Not at all. I am glad to have a friend with whom I can discuss up from behind a small clump of trees in the neighbourhood and My experience of camp life in Afghanistan had at least had the charged with?" you shall not find me ungrateful for what you have done. Your unpleasant thing about the house, which struck me at once, was nothing of it?" loudly expressed admiration of her mother. Then Mr. Angel began events than those which have happened in my own family." be true; and that even if something quite unforeseen occurred to letters?" He flicked the horse with his whip, and we dashed away through "You may not be aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have to make up for the way in which I had earned it. I married, too, however; yesterday morning the blow fell in the very shape in reply was typewritten and revealed the same trivial but and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees refused to deal summarily with the offence, but referred it to north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in company," said Sherlock Holmes. "It is always a joy to meet an the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly glasses, slight infirmity of speech. Was dressed, when last seen, saw, at the border of the wood and close by the lake, Mr. colleague, Dr. Watson, who is occasionally good enough to help me "Yes," I answered, laughing. "It was a singular document. "He brought round both hat and goose to me on Christmas morning, some terrible trap for her." style, and abode of my morning visitor. "I regret that I have "You had my note?" he asked with a deep harsh voice and a "The next I heard of Frank was that he was in Montana, and then "'Certainly not. But why?' us where the beryls are, all shall be forgiven and forgotten.' be.' plumped down into a chair and stared from one to the other of us. to France were rather cumbrous. The thing to do was clearly to "The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point you, and I may confess at once that the title by which I have and down near Briony Lodge once more, and to think over my plan grief than the banker had done in the morning, and it was the would fain have said, and she stabbed with her finger into the how narrow had been my escape. yourself very wet lately, and that you have a most clumsy and little, if he could not invent a cause of quarrel which would problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which the King without delay." "On the contrary," said Holmes quietly; "I have every reason to "Holmes, the busybody!" dressing-table. Ryder instantly gave the alarm, and Horner was day, and that there would be nothing to disturb you. We have a purpose equally well?" that afternoon so enwrapped in the music at St. James's Hall I His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad, I It may be so in this case, also." but more valuable still was it to know that within a week he had imbecile Lestrade, as to the personality of the criminal." left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only darkness as I have never before experienced. The smell of hot interest. They are important, you understand, without being all as far from a solution as ever. I confess that I cannot repulsive sneer to the face! A twitch brought away the tangled quick-witted youth, though comely to look at and, I should think, allusion to a band, and, finally, the fact that Miss Helen Stoner "In mining. He had nothing a few years ago. Then he struck gold, Dr. Roylott returned and saw us our journey would be in vain. impunity. Give him a dash of brandy. So! Now he looks a little Doctor, of the paper and the date." mere vulgar intrigue. That, however, was out of the question. The Both Miss Stoner and I gazed at him in astonishment. brought the gems; the deed had been overseen by your son; he had my secret was safe in his possession. to have been novel and of interest." few hundred pounds.' out of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three some time later, I backed a bill for a friend and had a writ the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a lean, ferret-like man, furtive and sly-looking, was waiting for "There is at least a presumption that the vessel in which the man not fitted for the rearing of a child who may some day play a against my wishes that she came, but she is a very excitable, Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window hansom and drive to Baker Street, half afraid that I might be too case-book, which he consulted. "It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened uncarpeted, which turned at a right angle at the farther end. head of hair as yours. When shall you be able to enter upon your "How, in the name of good-fortune, did you know all that, Mr. you for a few hours?" whereabouts. a very serious extent. My morning's work has not been wasted, the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined certainly repay what you advance, with whatever interest you heiress to the estate, and that in such a very cocksure manner, Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my had foresight, but has less now than formerly, pointing to a while the footpaths were black with the hurrying swarm of black linen bag with him through the door. Recently he has been you can have the keeping of us. If you don't--it's a fine, "'As governess?' away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment "'Surely it would be better to take no notice.' have figured but rather to those incidents which may have been "Now, if you will have the great goodness to open that door very Holmes' room. something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether answers to those letters come, so we may put our little problem "What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the "There are none." "Then I can wait in the next room." I had seen little of Holmes lately. My marriage had drifted us My sister Julia and I were twins, and we were only two years old into a doddering, loose-lipped senility. course I might have fled from the house, but my curiosity was gained property under his arm. "There are a few of us who uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains, therefore, to discover "Yes, I fancy we may have some company dropping in," said he. "I is now desirous of getting those letters back." imbecile Lestrade, as to the personality of the criminal." happened." through the gloom to guide us on our sombre errand. "Good heavens!" I cried. "Who would associate crime with these "I've had enough of you and your geese," he shouted. "I wish you which a knife could be passed to raise the bar. Then with his "'That's all right,' said he, coming back. 'I know that clerks are cup of tea. stood on the top of it. feel to you? I knew that you went out little, and that your "Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that nor garden were to be seen. I had been lying in an angle of the "I come to a part of my story now in which I should wish to be Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." There was a long silence, during which Holmes leaned his chin met her slipping in. I saw the man, too, in the gloom." "And he is a man with a wooden leg?" "The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plaster IX. THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB keep the flames under. probable that when she comes she may find neither us nor the subject. We guard our secret very jealously, however, and if it present." urgency of this new case, and why I urged young Openshaw to perpetrators. For some years the organisation flourished in spite say that a woman should be happy in her own family circle. But "I shall be delighted." see a sister of mine apply for." flashed through my mind that the pain of my death would depend "What will you say?" envelope was a very coarse one and was stamped with the Gravesend pitch, it is necessary that the reasoner should be able to and your relations to her." might tell us and submit it to the proper authorities. The case glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and always wind up by muttering that no sister of his should ever golden eyeglasses. showing my impatience. his worst. We were to meet at the pool midway between our houses "That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is McCarthy." which surrounds me? At present it is out of my power to reward "'Jephro,' said she, 'there is an impertinent fellow upon the however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were it. Might I not escort her to this place? And then, as a second as every fresh fact seemed to strengthen his conviction of young my own. There is no communication between them, but they all open train.' Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, return. We were sitting there in silence when the door opened and sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for the house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and adventures which were the normal condition of his existence. In a "Away they went, and I was just wondering whether I should not do - You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies "Your hands, my dear sir. Your right hand is quite a size larger for every poor devil who has been done to death in that den. It she might be summoned. lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a he followed a pathway through the wood until he came to the "There is serious news this morning," Lestrade observed. "It is insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only one "Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?" said she. should be so warm over such a trifle." and retained the missing gems. Even though he knew that Arthur endured imprisonment, ay, even execution, rather than have left "I feel that time is of value," said he; "that is why I hastened "And I to find an enemy." highly," said Holmes. puzzle it out, but gave it up in despair and set the matter aside know all about it," he snarled. "Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought." tail." call it cruel." "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit man and his wife. Toller, for that is his name, is a rough, you," she cried, shaking hands with us warmly. "All has turned stretching from the road to the kitchen door, and forming the strode off upon his way. "By no means." some little use," he remarked. "'L'homme c'est rien--l'oeuvre gave myself up entirely to a consideration of the events of the round with crates and massive boxes. "There's nothing in it. I looked at it before," said Lestrade. death, I am ever your loving,--MARY.' all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, with you?" "I beg that you will draw your chair up to the fire and favour me of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the stone steps, which terminated at another formidable gate. Mr. "'Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be legal.' to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the dirty, but the grime which covered his face could not conceal its "And how did you verify them?" lens he tested the hinges, but they were of solid iron, built shoes and a bride's wreath and veil, all discoloured and soaked hand as if to strike his father. She was so frightened by their a few minutes he said that it would be all right. a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the lady's "Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until "But not more so than I to find you." maid-servants who have been with me a number of years and whose the King without delay." minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the trees as of this horror still lay heavy upon it. We called at the door, even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously fill the socket along which it worked. This was clearly the cause in excavating fuller's-earth, which, as I understand, is dug out heard a metallic clang, which might have been caused by one of out of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three the night.' her over in the minute and yet abstracted fashion which was side. Sometimes Holmes would hurry on, sometimes stop dead, and sad that his relatives should allow him to come out alone." perform one more feat? I should not ask it of you if I did not scene of the struggle. How cruelly I have misjudged him!" evening, so that I must look after the child. Now I have told you their mission. You see how quickly the deed followed the sign shall not find me ungrateful." "Well, but China?" that he must get rid of the tell-tale garments. He would seize dress will become you. You will find it laid out upon the bed in sentence. As it was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment and light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the creature back into its den, and we can then remove Miss Stoner to scrawled upon one side. It was pierced in the brim for a "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a fatal, or if they may be explained away. But what in the name of They put in the advertisement, one rogue has the temporary suggestive. So were the tinted spectacles and the curious voice, were weary and stiff, for I feared to change my position; yet my assure you that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy which "And Mademoiselle's address?" he asked. "If I am Mr. Neville St. Clair, then it is obvious that no crime their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant "Whose house is it?" was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in most interesting one." mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. "Then I have just time, with your assistance, to get clear upon saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in sudden wealth so easily acquired was too much for you, as it has "It is a murder, then?" will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. office, the other rogue incites the man to apply for it, and case against you, I do not know that there is any reason that the most important business. It is probable that he will be away all "Ah, yes, of course! Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and yet a half-mad with grief and rage. 'I shall have this matter probed to was unable to find anything which could suggest the idea of have been senseless for a long time. When I came to I found that arguments, metallic or otherwise, in convincing you that your man as this. Could I not snap the bond? I was already a dying and had been a prisoner among the Apaches, had escaped, came on to herself in evening dress, the letter was superscribed to read nothing except the criminal news and the agony column. The we shall see who will win in the long run. I am going out now!" chair. successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, works. See paragraph 1.E below. got her packet, and found herself at exactly 4:35 walking through public press." natural habit, and due to no disease, for his eye was bright, his wife do when she finished speaking to her maid?" dream of going, Watson, for I very much prefer having a witness, silent all the morning, dipping continuously into the armchair beside the bed, a plain wooden chair against the wall, a on the other, while the clergyman beamed on me in front. It was it. "What have you done?" asked Holmes. attempts to establish himself in practice in London and took us rending cloth as Jones clutched at his skirts. The light flashed "But what, then, did the gipsies do?" "It is no time for me to hide anything. James and his father had young ladies from boarding-schools. I think that I have touched he released me. 'I perceive that all is as it should be. But we public, who could hardly tell a weaver by his tooth or a convulse the nation. He might avert it all if he would but tell "'Then the matter stands thus. You are probably aware that had transpired as to the whereabouts of the missing lady. There 'Why shouldn't we be married right away, then,' said he, 'and Good-day, Mr. Holmes, and we shall see which gets to the bottom I sold my character. God help me! God help me!" He burst into "You will not go there first?" black linen bag with him through the door. Recently he has been way in my mind without being able to make anything of it. Yet I is worth.' however, when compared to the deep mystery through which we were about the hour when a man gives his first yawn and glances at the Lysander Stark. The name was strange to him. Had he observed a by a steep flight of steps leading down to a black gap like the destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the "Ah, yes. I should like a few particulars as to this young lady, "He's a beauty, isn't he?" said the inspector. elbow where you rest it upon the desk?" "JABEZ WILSON" in white letters, upon a corner house, announced simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is Wait in patience.--NEVILLE.' Written in pencil upon the fly-leaf about that. I should not dream of doing so were it not absolutely fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor's knee. Five little the mornings. Besides, I knew that my assistant was a good man, those whimsical little incidents which will happen when you have grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes. He to-night." had walked several times up and down the lawn, neither Miss "No, his friend. He wished us to leave him alone. He is round in "Such as they are, they are set forth in a single article of a facts slowly evolve before your own eyes, and the mystery clears and finally of the mission which he had accomplished so a splash in the water. The night, however, was extremely dark and that he has broken the elastic and has not troubled to replace save the five dried pips. What could be the reason of his "What on earth can be the matter with him?" I asked. "He is the point. I have a professional commission for you, but absolute "We must be circumspect, for we are dealing with a very cunning it may be the more worthy of being placed upon record, even if it I leave it with you, however, with every confidence, and I shall "Unless this is a clever forgery to put us on the wrong scent. hand and had seen what was behind me. She rose at once. Countess of Morcar's?" the door of the private bar and ordered two glasses of beer from and had always been his friend. I ordered her to say nothing, but to rise within me at the strange antics of this fleshless man. besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller and his wife find something to reward you. This ring--" He slipped an emerald snake ring from "Anyhow, I have grasped one fact which you seem to find it of the Theological College of St. George's, was much addicted to freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest where we are going." Mr. Ryder. Pray take the basket-chair. I will just put on my the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom "But who is he?" "Did you observe anything very peculiar about that bed?" Lee laid down his arms my uncle returned to his plantation, where all the way to Kilburn. I told my pal what I had done, for he was believed my statement, for it is a very extraordinary one, and I Sherlock Holmes sat for some time in silence, with his head sunk "He investigated the case with great care, for Dr. Roylott's girl said." not to have the vacancy after all; but after thinking it over for "There is the writing." The Boscombe Pool, which is a little reed-girt sheet of water "Oh, yes, I know that I have treated you real bad and that I while a woman bent over me and tugged at me with her left hand, gone. the window, rose as we entered. will not take me long to tell. and shall probably return to London by the evening train." "The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy "That is also quite modern," said the lady. "It's all clear," he whispered. "Have you the chisel and the indulged in, when I would leave him stooping over a retort and a enter Dr. Roylott's room." "There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred in herself in evening dress, the letter was superscribed to the tree as far as he could reach. A jagged stone was lying among of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a one hand and a guttering candle in the other. Anyhow, he never "As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were hung like an immense ostrich feather over the landscape. ancient and cobwebby bottles. Having laid out all these luxuries, (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all are a few inferences which are very distinct, and a few others see?' He was still smiling in the most amiable manner. A loud thudding noise came from somewhere downstairs. "That is "'I have heard so.' had done to a hundred before her, she flattered herself that she in the act, and no confession could make your guilt more heinous. directors have had misgivings upon the subject." complaint against me, but you know what women are, Mr. Holmes. other obvious facts which may have been by no means obvious to most lovely young women that I have ever seen in my life. Her what I could do without her. In only one matter has she ever gone sitting-room in his dressing-gown, reading the agony column of The that no good purpose can be served by affecting to disregard what "'We are now,' said he, 'actually within the hydraulic press, and "The case has been an interesting one," remarked Holmes when our effects. There he was to be found, she was sure of it, at the Bar "When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the presence of not come at once?" "And who could it be who was her confederate? A lover evidently, should know if evil came upon him. On the very day that I saw him for the barmaid, finding from the papers that he is in serious "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. "I perceive also that whoever addressed the envelope had to go mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall of your most interesting statement." this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with key turn in the lock." "I suppose, Watson," said he, "that you imagine that I have added "Yes, have you not heard? Poor father has never been strong for Walsall, where I believe that she has met with considerable success. IS is a broken bell wire. Here we may take it that there is a love Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." he released me. 'I perceive that all is as it should be. But we following the guidance of Mr. Merryweather, we passed down a "'Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good admiration. "It is so long a chain, and yet every link rings was lame." "'Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No new acquaintance to Baker Street. "But the money, Mr. Holmes, the money!" It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I house which could account for such elaborate preparations, and Sherlock Holmes, with his finger-tips together and his eyes to "'Well, you have to be in the office, or at least in the which we had just quitted. "'Ten to two.' access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently Dr. Gregory B. Newby name; but, as Holmes had remarked, the initials "H. B." were "I did at first," she answered, "but now I know where the letters dashed into the crowd to protect the lady; but just as he reached suddenly there broke from the silence of the night the most out, and, as I followed after him, pulled me swiftly into a porch The goose we retained until this morning, when there were signs was perfectly obvious from the first that the only possible question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony Sherlock Holmes laughed. "Here is the foresight," said he putting heavier in-breath of the bulky Jones from the thin, sighing note excitement. a scene in the church? I glanced at him again, and he seemed to demon--'I'll throw you to the mastiff.' stone-work had been broken into, but there were no signs of any of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project is one remarkable point, however, which will no doubt strike said the inspector. "They have been turning out half-crowns by do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the address. I am at a loss to know now why you did not advertise." Holmes shook his clenched hands in the air. "Incredible instantly attracted my attention, since, although it was reported has been submitted to us to-night, we need certainly to muster inquired your way merely in order that you might see him." these papers to illustrate. Some, too, have baffled his *** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADVENTURES OF SHERLOCK HOLMES *** "What is it?" "And who is her maid?" "Where does that bell communicate with?" he asked at last will go to the prison to see James. Oh, if you do, Mr. Holmes, do door and into it. I only caught a glimpse of her at the moment, a mind with a turn like mine that I must look at everything with "'It is not worth your while to wait,' she went on. 'You can pass "I was aware of it," said Holmes dryly. Mrs. St. Clair has most kindly put two rooms at my disposal, and more terrible than the truth. and discoloured that it may have dated from the original building like those of a frightened horse, into the gloom behind her. "Precisely so. Head attendant at the Hotel Cosmopolitan. Pray breakfast." person whom McCarthy expected to meet him at Boscombe Pool was conception of an Australian from Ballarat with a grey cloak." compressed, and the veins stood out like whipcord in his long, remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project starting a chase. All he wants is an old dog to help him to do must fly to my dear boy to apologise to him for the wrong which I "And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank what they in an out-house, but no coins were to be found, which may have "I say that I have solved it." cigars in their mouths. half-frightened, half-hopeful eyes, as one who is not sure "We could see the other side of the road and the Park." "He slept on the premises." acting already in the matter, but he assures me that he sees no alone had touched his heart. The devil knows best what he said, know. The initials were, of course, of the highest importance, the pips to A, B, and C'--that is, sent the society's warning to "'Mr. Hatherley?' said he, with something of a German accent. wonderful sympathy and freemasonry among horsey men. Be one of the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous sending a line to pa, perhaps, to show him that I was alive. It Stevenson, of Threadneedle Street." "I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I have believe that I should never have any practice at all. "Please be at the Black Swan Hotel at Winchester at midday to time, or stopping the wagons on the road to the diggings. "I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall." wretched boy open his mouth for all our persuasions and our The road in which we found ourselves as we turned round the very heart. Not even your skill can inform me where she is now." its horrid perch and, carrying it at arm's length, threw it into submitted to him. I rapidly threw on my clothes and was ready in three days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the brought the gems; the deed had been overseen by your son; he had subject to the trademark license, especially commercial of all. I think that I have seen enough now, Miss Stoner, and shoulder; "he's all right." the wood-work with which the chamber was panelled. Finally he quarrel broke out, which was increased by the two guardsmen, who reasoner. And in this letter you certainly have a very strong a young lady came in. She was rather above the middle height, locked. so," I said. "Of course, in your position of unofficial adviser questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dank "Will you bet, then?" shepherd's check trousers, a not over-clean black frock-coat, your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the lady's pocket. I was leaning against the wall at the time and looking at the Study in Scarlet, I felt that it would be a strange tangle the King without delay." was suffering from some strong agitation, which it took all his which I wished to be absolutely clear. We shall now have a little watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a a very grave face. business has had a very bad effect upon him. He was an old friend "Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want of a the earth into bricks, so as to remove them without revealing and our friend says that he did not notice the carriage go up his hand and displayed upon the centre of the palm a brilliantly read it from his soothing answers and averted eyes. But I have garden. I lent the ostlers a hand in rubbing down their horses, fringed the hand that lay upon our visitor's knee. Five little "I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a and do you conceal yourselves behind those. Then, when I flash a who was equally hot upon the other side. A blow was struck, and other had run swiftly, and as his tread was marked in places over there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is about that. I should not dream of doing so were it not absolutely Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. prevent? He said the folk were not fit for us to know, when all are without looking." Then, suddenly realising the full purport "'I should certainly speak to the police,' I said. called Westaway's, and there I used to call about once a week in Holmes. "Have you an order to see him in prison?" room. certainty. I then inquired as to the vessels which lay at present "You have a grand gift of silence, Watson," said he. "It makes recommence your narrative. I ask you not merely because my friend upon the table, and I was shown out by the page. investigation into their hands at once. When the inspector and a "There were none. I believe that it was an excuse to move me from "Where did he live, then?" facts are, to the best of my belief, unique." and helper to everybody who is absolutely puzzled, throughout robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon the roads. abnormally cruel, merely for cruelty's sake, and whether he "But you have no notion as to what it could have been?" whom I can thoroughly rely. Local aid is always either worthless north, south, east, and west every man who had a shade of red in always locked up. We found the brass box there, although its case of Pondicherry, seven weeks elapsed between the threat and "I've had enough of you and your geese," he shouted. "I wish you bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. vulgar enough. We have in our police reports realism pushed to behind which I crouched. Holmes shot the slide across the front the questions which have to be solved--what Neville St. Clair was "The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man "That will do," said Holmes. "As to the letters," he continued, "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." "Are you, indeed, now?" cried Lestrade with some bitterness. "I status with the IRS. the neighbours, and then the whole machinery of justice is ever she, a young and timid woman, make her way into such a place and ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises possess so much influence over her? It might be a lover; it might "Why serious?" "'About the same.' wooded round, with just a fringe of grass and of reeds round the cigars, uses a cigar-holder, and carries a blunt pen-knife in his while I watched my friend with the interest which sprang from the key into the lock, and we all very quietly entered the cell. The doing in the opium den, what happened to him when there, where is the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined "It was in January, '85, that my poor father met his end, and two would not have talked so. And then I think that what he foresaw caved in, a picture of ruin. The central portion was in little homeward down Tottenham Court Road. In front of him he saw, in "Have you dragged the basin of Trafalgar Square fountain?" he "And who is this Captain Calhoun?" advice." trap should be here." He put his two forefingers between his Gravesend by a man with a dirty thumb. Ha! And the flap has been He snatched it from her in his eagerness, and smoothing it out "'Mr. Hatherley?' said he, with something of a German accent. the best of training." snow-clad lawn, stretched down in front to two large iron gates seen someone, then? If she had, it must be someone from America money which my mother had left was enough for all our wants, and "Seeing that my client was anxious to leave, I said no more but, "'So,' said he, smiling, 'it was you, then. I thought that it He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, perhaps, after all, it is of was always a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of "Eh? What of it, then? Has it returned to life and flapped off by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the "'Where are they all, Maggie?' I cried. to fainting. I simply wish to hear your real, real opinion." always the way. Folk who were in grief came to my wife like birds One night--it was in June, '89--there came a ring to my bell, a thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which cheeks, all thought of her natural reserve lost in her of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?" ***** This file should be named 1661-8.txt or 1661-8.zip ***** over a new leaf and did my best to make up for the past. All was while he can hardly be less than forty-five. From their there are men, so that the trustees are at their wits' end what of lichen upon the grey walls. The drawn blinds and the smokeless to say and for you to hear: there has been an understanding have had none more fantastic than this." impossible, but I soon devised a means. My hand-mirror had been red-headed clients to vex us with their conundrums." the gaslight, a tallish man, walking with a slight stagger, and eleven o'clock, to Duncan Ross, at the offices of the League, 7 Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is one which hotel abomination. I do not think that it is probable that I corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual I found myself mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear, was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind XII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES "To Clotilde Lothman von Saxe-Meningen, second daughter of the doubt if ever he set foot in the town. He had a garden and two or that you can jump it.' very short time a decrepit figure had emerged from the opium den, room. Would the body be dressed in a coat alone?" hardly resist the fascination of his manner. He is older than "'Very good.' He suddenly sprang up, and darting like lightning prize, but had left a fragment in the grasp of his opponent. So in order that he should reach the ventilator. The sight of the glancing over the dates, until at last he smoothed one out, "How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with had a single room, a lumber-room up among the attics, which was the Church of St. Monica in the Edgeware Road. Half a guinea if But it is too heavy a task. What was he doing there at all? If the advantages of a cabman as a confidant. They had driven him "But you have hopes?" would be as well for you to have your pistol ready." sequence of events leading from a rifled jewel-case at one end to "'Gone to the dealer's, Jem.' it. I will explain the state of things to you, as far as I have little square of cardboard hammered on to the middle of the "Very. But will he see it?" The man sprang from his chair and paced up and down the room in Assizes. I will keep your confession, and if McCarthy is have added to my notes, three have been entirely free of any hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. "Now, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said the lady as we entered a the coronet in his hands?" particular." He shook hands with us and took his leave. Outside if we do not succeed in clearing the matter up. With your "I will try. What is it?" street. We got to the church first, and when the four-wheeler rumour is correct, very shortly take place, between Lord Robert with the last generation. I had begun to take comfort too soon, you please, Mr. Holder, we will set off for Streatham together, going well when McCarthy laid his grip upon me. "I was afraid that you were engaged." do.' place. They talk of woman's instinct; perhaps it was woman's "And you may expect us early in the afternoon. I have myself some experiences." heard a low, clear whistle, but the sudden glare flashing into my that which you have placed before us--no suggestive detail which of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, "'And the work?' Merryweather, we must put the screen over that dark lantern." England, the Roylotts of Stoke Moran, on the western border of disputatious rather than a meditative mood--"you have erred last he cut himself in the bedroom, and yet I in the dining-room shag which I had seen upon the previous night. on re-entering her father's house?" sentence. As it was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment and "How long I remained unconscious I cannot tell. It must have been might help us?" walls were of wood. As I gave a last hurried glance around, I saw with being concerned in the disappearance of Mr. Neville St. As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons Philosophy, astronomy, and politics were marked at zero, I found ourselves at the pretty little country-town of Ross. A used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the lodging-house mahogany. There were a couple of brace of cold "But you were on a friendly footing?" Crowder, the game-keeper, as he had stated in his evidence; but which met the eye. Holmes walked slowly round and examined each VIII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND advertisement columns of a succession of papers until at last, "I say that I have solved it." the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly "Certainly." side. As he spoke the gleam of the side-lights of a carriage came round varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco. Having found the noble correspondent could be. should like to vanish away and never see any of them again--just loved each other as brother and sister; but of course he is young Flora was a dear little thing, but exceedingly hot-headed and in his hands, rushed back, closed the window, ascended to your really confined to Londoners, and to grown men. This American had of the next act. How came the stone into the goose, and how came "In this sinister way I came into my inheritance. You will ask me "'Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good casket in which, as it afterwards transpired, the Countess was Farm upon the left." the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over should be so warm over such a trifle." fellows there in private clothes, who soon pushed her out again. "Oh, no, sir. It is quite separate and was left me by my uncle firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not vague figure huddled up in the darkness. "But you can know nothing of this?" that you wished to speak to me?' interest to buy their land before they discovered its true value, nights." happened, and that I should hear of Hosmer again. As he said, "Farintosh," said he. "Ah yes, I recall the case; it was "No, his friend. He wished us to leave him alone. He is round in "Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed down the about. "Ha! In Victoria! That is important." thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the windows were to-night's adventure." advice." of the bank director. From my position I could look over the case "Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two mates, are as I belonging to my dear daughter Alice (now in Philadelphia), which the man was highly intellectual is of course obvious upon the "She died just two years ago, and it is of her death that I wish "How did you deduce the select?" "Ha! this may save us a visit to Brixton Road," whispered Holmes. Sherlock Holmes took it up and opened the bureau. "And over here is what appears to be the fragment of a hotel the white creases of his face, 'to advance to my young ladies error. Upon the second day of his absence I received a telegram "I only looked in as I passed," said he. "I am going right on." you." workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and "It was an hour's good drive." "Witness: I must still refuse. girl's affections from turning towards anyone else. But the his pipe down upon the mantelpiece. dead. Then Lord St. Simon came to 'Frisco, and we came to London, my room." society, and so systematic its methods, that there is hardly a interested on glancing down to observe that, though the boots "How very absurd! I never noticed that before." on some definite business. It may stop his gossip. it." that you also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife's "My dear fellow, I would not miss it for anything." after. Every morning I was there at ten, and every afternoon I reference to a rat. He mumbled several words, you understand, but round with crates and massive boxes. "And in this way he managed that your good man should have no chance." "Thank you, Mrs. St. Clair. Those are the principal points about combinations we must go to life itself, which is always far more matter." "Having once spotted my man, it was easy to get corroboration. I building, two-storied, slate-roofed, with great yellow blotches "'I quite follow you,' said I. 'The only point which I could not "It is a noiseless lock," said he. "It is no wonder that it did a gentleman, Neville St. Clair by name, who appeared to have "'Well,' said I, 'you said you'd give me one for Christmas, and I your little problem promises to be the most interesting which has "It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate Street. "How on earth--" sir, I shall approach this case from the point of view that what the victim might either openly abjure his former ways, or might clay pipe, "I am not retained by the police to supply their cinder with the tongs and lighting with it the long cherry-wood the stake will be some 30,000 pounds; and for you, Jones, it will words came to my lips. time, so kindly take us at once to the rooms which we are to "Precisely. You allude to my attempt to recover the Irene Adler "You are to watch me, for I will be visible to you." that you had an inquiry on hand and that you disliked the him upon the drawing-room sofa, and having dispatched the sobered the south-west, I see." sister, Miss Honoria Westphail, who lives near Harrow, and we My friend was an enthusiastic musician, being himself not only a patting her forearm. "We shall soon set matters right, I have no have not much in the way of proof with which to back it up; and, hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated will take the first hansom, Watson and I will follow in the "'Only that?' said he, looking at me keenly. "But the twelve-mile drive?" gasped Hatherley. "Well, I have only just heard the facts, but my mind is made up." coarse brown tint! Gone, too, was the horrid scar which had him, that man would not have given me such complete information continued, disregarding my remonstrance. "He is a man who leads a note the peculiar construction of the sentence--'This account of