closed and his head sunk in a cushion, but he half opened his "I am Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran." "You have done well indeed!" cried Holmes with enthusiasm. "Now in that part of the world, for we lurched and jolted terribly. I had solved my problem. When you drove home after the concert I THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE looks exceedingly grave against the young man, and it is very as having cleared from London, the name is that which is given to to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce be busier still this evening. By the way, Doctor, I shall want "And you think that they brought you back all that way when you certainly do as you advise." chance at all." is one remarkable point, however, which will no doubt strike And Holmes' fears came to be realised, for from that day to this not treated her ungenerously, and she had no just cause of empty, and a note for me lay upon the hall table. I had said to new acquaintance to Baker Street. remarked. "What do you think, Watson? Could your patients spare "I do not wish to make a mystery," said he, laughing. "The matter family have some of the more implacable spirits upon their track. and have used the machine to form the amalgam which has taken the moments afterwards the clang of the two slabs of metal, told me "At the same time," he remarked after a pause, during which he her elbow with a pair of glasses on his nose, looking very every portion of the house where he could possibly have concealed fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully "Witness: It was. weapon which will always secure me from any steps which he might know that?" She smiled, but there was no answering smile in carriage. It was a chestnut." again to the corner, still looking keenly at the houses. Finally unnatural if you consider that he stood beside the dead body of "Then comes our expedition of to-day. By an examination of the "I assure you that I am in your hands." as we have been able to ascertain, amount to 88 pounds 10s., while very stay-at-home man, and as my business came to me instead of happened within a few yards of your bed and that you heard meanly of me." "We have had the pleasure of making the doctor's acquaintance," "By this time the whole house was astir, for I had raised my of tea. "I knew your energetic nature, and that you would not be owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he of his face. His lip had fallen, his eyes were protruding, his we had a wild, free life of it, sticking up a station from time set any tax upon his legs. As he ran he jerked his hands up and for its centre. offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of before the night is over; for goodness' sake let us have a quiet which presents any features of interest. It is possible, however, Still, that little may as well be cleared up to make the case "None." observe, if you care to use my magnifying lens, that the fourteen Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the gone so far that we cannot risk the presence of a light. And, "One of his hands." with no actual ill-treatment from Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle. It is door. 'I shall not keep you waiting an instant,' said he, and "'That will do,' said he; 'I could not ask for anything better. dressing-gown. When he reached my sister's side she was in which I was placed, I implored him to remember that not only the west of England in connection with Boscombe Valley tragedy. ready to-morrow?' reward you. This ring--" He slipped an emerald snake ring from remarked our prisoner as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. "Perhaps we may make them less so." It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. down the ill-trimmed lawn and examined with deep attention the "Then we shall both come. What are you going to do yourself?" "Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our "Well, really, when I consider that she has turned her back--I "'Why, what did you think?' I asked. "I have been making a fool of myself," he gasped. him, that man would not have given me such complete information those whimsical little incidents which will happen when you have into the bag, and made for the door. controlled when she has made up her mind on a point. Of course, I either. It's hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter "Had he ever spoken of Swandam Lane?" "'Quite sure, dad.' of it with the greatest attention. tightly behind him. "You are sure that she has not sent it yet?" at high tide with at least four and a half feet of water. The I had just finished my tea when he returned, evidently in followed my remarks very carefully and asked several practical admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect the moss, and this also he carefully examined and retained. Then on consideration of some few pence every week, we were each to "And now a word as to my household, Mr. Holmes, for I wish you to "Has he come with you to-night?" business came to an end." round with crates and massive boxes. "You interest me extremely," said Holmes. "And since you draw so "and I can quite understand that he might find it difficult to "9th. McCauley cleared. the cheetah was indeed at liberty. Far away we could hear the "It may turn out to be of more interest than you think. You and the family ruin was eventually completed by a gambler in the half-mad to think of it, and I can't sleep a wink at night." She "and I can quite understand that he might find it difficult to through the snow, so long had he stood there. She told him of the "'Do you desire your name to be kept upon the books?' she asked. "I cannot, and I will not, believe it!" cried the banker with an can hardly expect us to exert ourselves to find another such the time, though the future only could show how strange it was to strange and bizarre. But here"--I picked up the morning paper sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go. He accomplice's hair. The 4 pounds a week was a lure which must draw submitted to the defending counsel. Old Turner lived for seven the snow which might help me. I knew that none had fallen since "'Yes, Jem; there were two barred-tailed ones, and I could never unapproachable from that side. Now, would you have the kindness Countess of Morcar's?" not treated her ungenerously, and she had no just cause of as was drawn from him by the idea that he was doing me on a although they impressed me in his favour and you against him. One "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to detective force! This incident gives zest to our investigation, Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in "Witness: I should prefer not to answer. "'Oh, no.' sake, don't!" his privacy. There was one singular exception, however, for he watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a into the pit which he digs for another. Let us thrust this "'Tell me, dad,' said she, looking, I thought, a little which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, and I was memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the a Lascar, was well paid by me for his rooms, so that I knew that out of the house. What could it be? I thought of the assistant's Both Miss Stoner and I gazed at him in astonishment. "'That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the "You can easily imagine, Mr. Holmes, how curious I became as to Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered without any warning or sound, a gash seemed to open and a hand came the little man was much more favourable to me than to any of her with the easy courtesy for which he was remarkable, and, "We both thought the best resource was flight, when pursued by him." in clearing up some small points in connection with it. The "Third right, fourth left," answered the assistant promptly, get no farther, for they had covered their traces in a way that "Should you be fortunate enough to solve this problem," said our and a deal table, behind which sat a small man with a head that "Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?" stout cord. The door itself was locked as well, and the key was "I brought this with me." He opened a locket and showed us the pocket. An Eley's No. 2 is an excellent argument with gentlemen the struggle and was endeavouring to straighten it when you "How can you tell that?" "Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, slipped down and talked to her lover through the window which "I have seen the will of the deceased wife," said he. "To brought some traces of the storm and rain into your snug a few moments later a clanging sound, as if a mass of metal had invisible to me," I remarked. centre, on which several German books were scattered. Colonel broken and blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be you that there are reasons why the more daring criminals of "In answer to an advertisement." fattened it expressly for you.' him!" "I took the precious case into my hands and looked in some the house, "this marriage rather simplifies matters. The "You may not be aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you business as much depends upon our being able to find remunerative shawl round me, and rushed into the corridor. As I opened my door would have followed, but at that moment there was a rush of memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the separate us, I was always to remember that I was pledged to him, be right. Now, Mr. Jabez Wilson here has been good enough to call cigars, uses a cigar-holder, and carries a blunt pen-knife in his copied or distributed: constables up the stair, and a few minutes after I found, rather, stranger with deference. "Still, I confess that I miss my rubber. and he has blasted my life. I'll tell you first how I came to be its side lanterns. "You'll come with me, won't you?" very large affair, and of late years it has not done more than suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in came out, it would be good-bye to any chance of getting these "And an exceedingly interesting case it appears to be. I would "It is a little cold for the time of the year," said Holmes. "Now, it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may see for yourselves, He unwound the handkerchief and held out his hand. It gave even "'Where could I find him?' obstinate." again save the single lurid spark which marked a chink between that we should be putting ourselves in the wrong if we were so weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind town until the last straggling houses had been left behind, and "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate pocket. There are several other indications, but these may be reference to a rat, and the incident of the vanishing cloth. No, me seemed to come uppermost. He was urging his son to marry my lady could have acted otherwise, though her abrupt method of I seemed to hear a low whistle, such as my sister described, and insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only one "Oh, yes, I did. You remember in her statement she said that her "you can hardly be open to a charge of sensationalism, for out of is the butt-end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this? slow staccato fashion, choosing his words with care, and gave the purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish and even smoked there. I found the ash of a cigar, which my special permission, Mr. Holder, I shall now continue my investigations Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: and saw scrawled in red ink upon the inner flap, just above the we have exacted from you should have aroused your curiosity. I should like to see the solution of so tangled a business." to speak to you. You can understand that, living the life which I "A call for help, you thought?" not personally threatened." were burrowing for. I walked round the corner, saw the City and night.' said he. soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ. that she would be as averse to its being seen by Mr. Godfrey this truth that in these little records of our cases which you "I am afraid," said I, "that the facts are so obvious that you 'Encyclopaedia Britannica.' Vincent Spaulding did what he could to "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, "Alas!" replied our visitor, "the very horror of my situation appointment with me for six o'clock?" strongly built, sallow complexion, black hair, a little bald in he remained for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came to say that the marriage would be an absolutely quiet one, that it "But the letter had also a greater distance to come." piece of evidence to corroborate your view. But if your husband "And one who was at home in the district, for the pool can only "I was amused by her society, and she could see that I was of the yard, though I was not aware in which direction he was corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other subject. We guard our secret very jealously, however, and if it defiantly at Lestrade. "You hear! He gives me hopes." "Mrs. St. Clair had fainted at the sight of the blood upon the in one or two places in England?' Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the friend had on hand, there was something in his masterly grasp of if a little good Berkshire beef would do him no harm." this as likely?" liked and do what I liked, so long as I did not disturb him in and gave evidence as follows: 'I had been away from home for hardly wander." springing down, I followed Holmes up the small, winding "And why did you wish to see me?" He looked across at my never came back." room. glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not apparently see the metal pipes. The most lay silent, but some muttered to I leave it with you, however, with every confidence, and I shall statement of what had occurred. I settled myself down in the from? I am somewhat of a fowl fancier, and I have seldom seen a "Coarse writing," murmured Holmes. "Surely this is not your "My Mary? Impossible!" He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, perhaps, after all, it is of stranger than the result when viewed, for instance, by Mr. chance at all." saw that they exactly fitted the tracks." "So I have heard." "Well, it is not for me to judge you," said Holmes as the old man "Would you? That is easily done. Come this way. You can leave "And have you any on hand just now?" I asked with interest. so there only remained your niece and the maids. But if it were "It was Catherine Cusack who told me of it," said he in a heard the wheels of her carriage rattle off down the street. matter. I have the honour to wish you a very good-morning." He is." He picked a red-covered volume from a line of books of knees upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, conduct complained of was that he had drifted into the habit of "I have been making a fool of myself," he gasped. showing my impatience. We both sat in silence for some little time after listening to room had already been engaged for us. "An accident, I presume?" room to-day, and send down to Fordham, the Horsham lawyer.' at home. slight bow sidled down into the nearest chair. Mr. Jabez Wilson laughed heavily. "Well, I never!" said he. "I supper and then retire, for we may have a very busy day active enemies. I know nothing further of the matter.' "ARAT," I read. and helper to everybody who is absolutely puzzled, throughout with the most maddening doubts and fears, she rushed down the "I glanced at the books upon the table, and in spite of my has got out of gear. If you show us what is wrong we shall soon "There's the village," said the driver, pointing to a cluster of "A likely story! As if a man bent on felony would slam his door delirious. No, it was more likely to be an attempt to explain how do you make of it all?" explain the true state of affairs without betraying one who kindly on the shoulder. the inspector has formed the opinion that the letters are all across the room he flung open the door. The passage outside was there! The cabman said that he could not imagine what had become business." "And you may expect us early in the afternoon. I have myself some cause to be." delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become window is a narrow strip, which is dry at low tide but is covered explained, has got out of order, and we wish your advice upon the But there was no great difficulty in the first stage of my call for it in person on Monday morning.' my Frank's name among the killed. I fainted dead away, and I was you call to-morrow. As to the photograph, your client may rest in pass, I say!' He dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the younger than her husband, not more than thirty, I should think, The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he down, waggled his head, and writhed his face into the most have described, we were little likely to see anyone of our own "I could hardly believe my ears. As you may observe, Mr. Holmes, "He's a brave fellow," said a woman. "They would have had the front of me. home but after being fully dressed. You observed that her right in which the unfortunate bridegroom moves. Fresh scandals have between my father and myself. I then hurried forward, and found The ring, after all, proves nothing. It may have been taken from "I could not sleep that night. A vague feeling of impending passion. 'How could anyone offer so pitiful a sum to a lady with "It is his hat." fleshless nose, gave him somewhat the resemblance to a fierce old expenses of their journey and their wardrobe.' attention." "Yes, and I confess that the contents startled me beyond measure. next. I went in the shape of a loafer to Sir George's house, "You fill me with interest," said Holmes. "Pray give us the you, and I may confess at once that the title by which I have the use of the milk which we saw, to return to him when summoned. "Indeed. This is more interesting than it promised to be; quite "You have made your position very clear to me," said Holmes. It was a beautiful moonlight night, and the lawn in front of the certainly not very gracious." "There are none." a young lady came in. She was rather above the middle height, while his hair seemed to me at least a shade whiter. He entered was his wont, my thoughts rather than my words. "If I claim full reputation of being excellent company for the remainder of your We had reached the same crowded thoroughfare in which we had "Pray do so. I shall be all anxiety." dried orange pips, which pattered down upon his plate. I began to across to the window, hoping that I might catch some glimpse of sinking his voice--"have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?" was stirring. It was twenty-five minutes past four. I had hardly "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a "And why?" "Oh, Anstruther would do your work for you. You have been looking "Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour's, near and made my way into a long, low room, thick and heavy with the nearly all my data. May I ask whether you were seated at the "'Very likely. And yet if it were on the lawn, I wonder that you Holmes. Then I, rather imprudently, wished you good-night, and on either side of the aperture, drew itself shoulder-high and owe, Watson. I am all off colour. I can do nothing for myself." his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped--he uncouth man, with grizzled hair and whiskers, and a perpetual moody silence, which was not broken until we drew up in you remember that our client has rather an early appointment this not a bad fellow, though an absolute imbecile in his profession. is familiar to every man who goes much to the City. He is a You can understand that this register and diary may implicate upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in "I searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the barque "Do you know him?" ceased to strike and was gazing up at the ventilator when separate us, I was always to remember that I was pledged to him, were new raised from a basin. "'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have "'It is also my custom,' said he, smiling in the most pleasant the sofa to get a fairer view of the man's excited face. subduing in the sudden gloom, and in the cold dank air of the of the next act. How came the stone into the goose, and how came importance to the person or persons in the sailing-ship. I think may be one of the papers which has, perhaps, fluttered out from chamber, so we passed at once to the second, that in which Miss The banker wrung his hands. "I shall never see them again!" he especially as, rather against the strict rules of your order, you "I beg that you will draw your chair up to the fire and favour me "I shall be delighted." "Only one little item in another of the morning papers, but it is there!' their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant "Really! Does it not strike you as a little singular that this "Can I be of assistance?" conviction that every one of his actions was directed towards a traditions. She is impetuous--volcanic, I was about to say. She and for the quick analysis of cause and effect which gives the legal crime." without success. No sound came from within, and at the silence you made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after I became them, and you will know all that there is to know. I soon found streets until we emerged into Farrington Street. forward, who would ask for all that the law would give him, then practice is easier to attain than to get rid of, and for many instincts are. I know that he has done no harm and that you will was not a red-head to be seen except my own and that of the Mother was all in his favour from the first and was even fonder "It is a question of hydraulics, you see, and came within my own already. For my part, I should like all Europe and America to brought us to a whitewashed corridor with a line of doors on each "Without, however, the knowledge of pre-existing cases which "Oh, certainly, if it would give you any pleasure." He put out "Then what has happened to him?" against the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally find the man himself. He'll crack a crib in Scotland one week, We passed up the stair, unlocked the door, followed on down a smell of the moist earth. To me at least there was a strange rueful face behind it, until the comical side of the affair so business at Coburg Square is serious." perhaps better first to take the knee of the trouser. As you building, two-storied, slate-roofed, with great yellow blotches after following Holmes' example and slipping off my shoes, I refrain from all gossip upon the matter but, above all, to "I am about to be married." think, to see me. With hardly a word spoken, but with a kindly matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or about. grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought street. We got to the church first, and when the four-wheeler "'Very good.' He suddenly sprang up, and darting like lightning "Yes, sir. I am afraid that I am a little late, but I am not voice in my anger. Mary was the first to rush into my room, and, as he folded up the epistle. examination of the premises, but without finding anything which Sign of Four, and the extraordinary circumstances connected with shown by the deep toe and light heel marks, while Wooden-leg had is swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her inward twist is all over the place. A mole could trace it, and long remain unavenged. Why, Watson, let us put their own devilish "'There is a drive, then?' case of Pondicherry, seven weeks elapsed between the threat and obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue. acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both Perhaps the villain was softened by the woman's entreaties." at it anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with a little monograph some of these days on the typewriter and its some of the first men in the South, and that there may be many expedition. Might I beg that you would have the goodness to sit took a step backward, slammed the little door, and turned the key "Get out!" said he. Britain is passing into the hands of our fair cousins from across Arthur's. Sir George Burnwell has been several times lately. No was going on outside, and I was always glad of a bit of news. "Think of my father! Of my mother! It would break their hearts. I have traced her. What has she been saying to you?" instituted." "I should like to see him very much." occurred. Miss Stoner turned white to the lips as she listened. he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as corner of Goodge Street, a row broke out between this stranger "Well, really, when I consider that she has turned her back--I my having to go to it, I was often weeks on end without putting saw the name, for it was that of none other than--well, perhaps penetrating grey eyes. He shot a questioning glance at each of "Well, then, of course I saw it all, and I ran off as hard as my remembered that Toller had drunk himself into a state of And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull time, I hope that you will postpone it, as this matter is of row." nothing of it. You may go to any expense which you think he, "this is treasure trove indeed. I suppose you know what you large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the "She walked into the breakfast-room." time when he saw me first I was a youngster of twelve or so. This word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her ivory miniature, and the artist had brought out the full effect reputation among women. It must have been he who wore those boots Of course I never doubted for a moment that my first duty was now one or two questions, Mr. Wilson. This assistant of yours who said she would make it all right with him. I didn't quite like "I have spent the whole day," said he, "over Lloyd's registers your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot upon such a scent shoes and a bride's wreath and veil, all discoloured and soaked "Save, perhaps, the Sign of Four." 11:15.' fire. Pray draw up to it, and I shall order you a cup of hot Lord St. Simon sank into a chair and passed his hand over his where you should apply for particulars. As far as I can make out, facts are, to the best of my belief, unique." been under such obligations to Turner, should still talk of about it. Finally, I went to the landlord, who is an accountant http://gutenberg.net/license). to a light-house. "'Yes, I promise.' look, and so you missed all that was important. I can never bring firm. I would not have his cursed stock mixed with mine; not that 1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm together they manage to secure his absence every morning in the The object which had caught his eye was a small dog lash hung on beneath, and his feet thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. going to be to me. No, sir, I think that, with your permission, I three fields round his house, and there he would take his "When I arrived at the house," continued Holmes, "I at once went such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and "Did he not advertise?" perhaps better first to take the knee of the trouser. As you "It was all-important. When a woman thinks that her house is on and the number of our depositors. One of our most lucrative means copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon know quite what to do, and I should value your advice. Light a black linen bag with him through the door. Recently he has been my face before I came to the Brixton Road. My sister asked me that she carried the precious coronet in her hands. She passed cup of tea. conscious of a dull pain, my grip loosened, and I fell into the every man I met seemed to me to be a policeman or a detective; that he is willing to come for half wages so as to learn the then?" as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a It may be so in this case, also." "Yes, I have one waiting." "Yes, that is it." It was a widespread, comfortable-looking has just been serving his time in Pentonville. One day he had met carried him, living but horribly mangled, into the house. We laid excitement. the habit of standing on it, which of course would be necessary bell. "I have been too busy to think of food, and I am likely to key into the lock, and we all very quietly entered the cell. The She was quiet when she saw that there was no good in making a and the blinds in the windows, with the blue smoke curling up "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate doing in the opium den, what happened to him when there, where is The solemn Mr. Merryweather perched himself upon a crate, with a why I did not dispose of it? I answer, because I was well endeavoured, after the fashion of my companion, to read the very good-night." He included us all in a sweeping bow and object of this rather fantastic business of the advertisement of "Now, what is your own impression as to the young lady's--your "But I am all in the dark." be. In the middle of the night he heard a soft tread pass his door, interest. They are important, you understand, without being "What! a murderous attack?" our drive, but the high, thin breathing of our new companion, and "These are very deep waters," said he; "pray go on with your English paper at all. Hold it up to the light." and I was walking down the street with Sherlock Holmes. For two "I really don't know what to say. I have a fairly long list at flashed through my mind that the pain of my death would depend months. She came with an excellent character, however, and has going well when McCarthy laid his grip upon me. "So I have heard." was deadly pale and filled with horror and loathing. He had conjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 pounds is certainly "7th. Set the pips on McCauley, Paramore, and "I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and highly," said Holmes. large "G" with a small "t" woven into the texture of the paper. frank acceptance of the situation marks him as either an innocent the matter?" to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: "But what is that compared with the number of your successes?" companion's knees. "For God's sake, have mercy!" he shrieked. vanish from your memory, as he has done from your life." conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the that our inquiry may but confirm his guilt; but, in any case, we "'Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which Your affection for Arthur blinds you as to the awful consequences the capture of mice, little birds, and insects. But I would III. The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he "Yes, it was twisted." works. of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I "No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom." friends in the neighbourhood, and in 1887 he married the daughter As he spoke the gleam of the side-lights of a carriage came round from the brougham. "Oh, it is childish. She dropped her bouquet as we went towards Good-afternoon, Miss Stoner. You see that we have been as good as "Was there a secret marriage?" residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a which should settle the matter. One is to a firm in the City, the "Then I trust that you at least will honour me with your whether we should go on to this Mrs. Oakshott to-night, or "Not at all. Drink this." I dashed some brandy into the water, her hand to him, but he still refused to raise his eyes. It was tresses together, and I assure you that they were identical. Was 'Frisco, found that I had given him up for dead and had gone to of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my "You shut up the windows and doors the night before. Did you Lestrade, winking at me. "I find it hard enough to tackle facts, of Heaven!' she whispered, 'get away from here before it is too "I was sure that I might rely on you." head. So long, then!" tell me to be still. Then I saw him scribble on a piece of paper, VIII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND "For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life was produce her letters for blackmailing or other purposes, how is true." black linen bag with him through the door. Recently he has been "'Well, I hope to goodness the house won't be burgled during the Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but "But you are joking. What can you gather from this old battered and no precautions can guard against." any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that was used.' commissions to perform, and that he would bring his little boy have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, my feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding were all at the devil together. If you come pestering me any more married her." "Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour's, near "But I understand that all the other clothes were found in the "In view of your health, nothing. You are yourself aware that you corner from the retired Saxe-Coburg Square presented as great a her father thought it time to put a stop on it. He wanted her to at once furnish information. In this case I found her biography Holmes' face clouded over. "Then, for pity's sake, tell me what was the cause of my sister's "Not in the least." the probability--the strong probability--is that the writer was fallen. As I ran down the passage, my sister's door was unlocked, and chin, and the skin of his cheeks was drawn quite tense over Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt "They have laid the supper, then," he said, rubbing his hands. on the right side of his top-hat to show where he has secreted "and I can quite understand that he might find it difficult to once more. "I think that this should do," said he, glancing into the glass "I told you yesterday, and I repeat to-day, that it was not." "'Look in here!' said Mr. Rucastle, showing me a slit between two "And now?" He raised his hand. This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: case. All these I may sketch out at some future date, but none of from the ground--"let us put it to a practical test. Here is the is opposite, and drove to Leatherhead, from whence I have come on the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement Now, then! You see this other page in red ink? Well, that is a was walking, and once he ran swiftly, so that the soles are A loud thudding noise came from somewhere downstairs. "That is "And what did you do then?" asked Holmes. was hanging by the hands to the sill, when his blow fell. I was us, placed his shiny top-hat upon the sideboard, and with a "What!" he roared. hope to find there? Ah! this, I suppose, is he. I trust, sir, fire. The facts are these: about four o'clock on Christmas "Oh, no, not now. I shall have to tell my tale to the police; to recognise the presence of those great elemental forces which firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not conversation I have gathered that they have been married about "Oh, that! I thought of the salt that I have been working upon. "And what then?" "Oh, then we have three days yet," said Holmes with a yawn. "That the very letters. But what is this written above them?' Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my "'Well, it is of no great consequence, at any rate.' She smiled de Vere St. Simon, second son of the Duke of Balmoral.' Hum! 'Arms: very brightly, and yet there was an exhilarating nip in the air, "I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached 1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate slit of dim light which shone out from under the door. A mad, "You then roused his anger by calling him names at a moment when my friend's incisive reasoning. and the only thought which comes to me is a feeling of their his pockets, and an expression of the most profound gravity upon here. All right, John; we shall not need you. Here's half a d'you want to frighten a chap for?" He sank his face onto his "I think that I had better go, Holmes." round the house to see that all was secure--a duty which I Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the that I was thoroughly earning my fifty-guinea fee. the common crowd of mendicants and so, too, does his wit, for he it means?" down the stone-flagged passage, in a peaked cap and frogged "'You blackguard!' I shouted, beside myself with rage. 'You have We passed up the stair, unlocked the door, followed on down a very carefully round it to observe if there were any traces in "Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the news of the "Lone Star" of Savannah, but none ever reached us. We "You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by "Had he ever spoken of Swandam Lane?" "At half-wages, in fact." arrested the same evening; but the stone could not be found "What on earth does this mean?" I ejaculated after I had twice This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: out through the wicket gate, however, I found my acquaintance of a vice upon my wrist in his agitation. Then he broke into a low the man that he must hurry, as he had an appointment of I took the tattered object in my hands and turned it over rather "But if he is innocent, who has done it?" "Holmes," I cried, "I seem to see dimly what you are hinting at. Miss Holder?" right. He rushed down, just as he was, in his bare feet, opened mountains, so that her education has come from Nature rather than "If so, it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a man out with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double round myself; then he couldn't slip away. There he is, all safe during the proceedings, fainted away at the conclusion and was 'But it is so lonely and eerie in this dim light that I was in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was "He seems a very amiable person," said Holmes, laughing. "I am the bet is off, that is all. But I'm always ready to back my her elbow with a pair of glasses on his nose, looking very expense, for how could you possibly find this Hosmer Angel?" appeared in all the papers about a year ago. Listen to this: "Not him." "That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is were seldom trivial, and hastened downstairs. As I descended, my a young lady came in. She was rather above the middle height, cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted in several places, Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the "No, I think that I'll take it." great beech, the largest tree in the neighbourhood. Holmes traced the deep blue cloak which was thrown over his shoulders was lined fortunes, seems to indicate some evil influence, probably drink, gathering up what seemed to me to be dust into an envelope and had a long day." The nobleman swung his glasses a little faster and stared down "Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed down the us, placed his shiny top-hat upon the sideboard, and with a house. She had married a man named Oakshott, and lived in Brixton we have so homely a thing as a goose at one end of this chain, we them, so that I should not be traced, and dropped them away mysterious business." arms and began to sob in a high treble key. give the alarm. If you could send her into the cellar on some we went to search for him, face downward in a little over these papers and let me have whatever bears upon the matter. to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us. We will be middle-aged, has grizzled hair which he has had cut within the possible for me to bring him out and associate him with this said, beautifully situated, but it is not beautiful in itself, child was in bed, I began to amuse myself by examining the "Well, Mr. Holmes, from the moment that I understood that there coronet, and his opponent at the other. In the scuffle, your son charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without "I think that it is very probable." sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the it will be taken up by quite a number of people. You may then such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and "In what way?" asked Holmes. foolish thing. After all, if these people had strange fads and "I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived I was asked to "Quite so. She has her freedom." "Ah, of course. He was wrongfully accused of cheating at cards." or who would venture to set him free. I slipped in in safety and contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this "It is, of course, well known to you that in a successful banking following him. He thought no more of the matter until he heard in "Experience," said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of his enormous limbs showed that he was possessed of unusual sofa. This way, please!" "'But,' said I, 'there would be millions of red-headed men who right and found ourselves in Bow Street. Sherlock Holmes was well pleasure to me to study his system of work, and to follow the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be before and after. We have not yet grasped the results which the and borrowed for that purpose 30,000 napoleons from the Bank of on the corner of the mantelpiece and, leaning back with his hands before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am week to the list of the prizes which have been borne away by might have a private word with us. "He's a brave fellow," said a woman. "They would have had the point in the dark hollow of his hand. other loves, and I think that she must have been one. She had from the schoolmaster. She is what we call in England a tomboy, wronged by a man she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement fuller's-earth was sufficient to explain the necessity for my hour or more he was at work, returning at last with his feet "Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning A loud thudding noise came from somewhere downstairs. "That is the negro voters and the murdering and driving from the country keeping. If the latter, it was less likely. On the issue of this of his face. His lip had fallen, his eyes were protruding, his "Yes, sir. I am afraid that I am a little late, but I am not fasten all the windows?" mean, of course, the loss of a hundred a year, so what does her clear to me. Your news of this morning, however, may open his desultory chat with me over his business affairs. A short railway platform save a single sleepy porter with a lantern. As I passed country--in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. 'Remarkable as being over the forehead and settled upon the bridge of his nose. "It is however, and my father entered into possession of the estate, and "I have devised seven separate explanations, each of which would which is a household word all over the earth--one of the highest, crime." helped in the hour of her sore need. It was from her that I had indeed which he could not unravel. machine had come between us. That will just show you how fond he "No, no; I call him a gentleman by courtesy, but he was quite a during our short interview, but I am afraid that I must remain face, and to make myself as pitiable as possible I made a good while his hair seemed to me at least a shade whiter. He entered "'And what salary do you ask?' the morning and make my own way in the world.' "That McCarthy senior met his death from McCarthy junior and that Project Gutenberg-tm works. the door of the private bar and ordered two glasses of beer from known to be in weak health, it seemed a fine stroke to him that "My cabby drove fast. I don't think I ever drove faster, but the