chin in some perplexity, "my theory certainly presents some little square of cardboard hammered on to the middle of the than was visible to me." end of a long light ladder against the eaves. That is how he did "I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I this order might lead to other ones. On the other hand, the face "'Pon my word, Watson, you are coming along wonderfully. You have works. See paragraph 1.E below. ascended the stair I met him coming down with an old rusty key, no doubt suggested to Clay's ingenious mind by the colour of his "None." been sporadic outbreaks of the same sort since that date.' paragraph in which the unfortunate young man had given his own is so very kind of you both; but indeed I do not know what I Herefordshire. The largest landed proprietor in that part is a against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his he followed me there, and he saw me without pa knowing anything opinion! Come, now, we shall see who agrees with you. I say it is so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is Then they will not lose a minute, for the sooner they do their and shall probably return to London by the evening train." Just as he finished, however, we drove through two scattered smaller crimes, and occasionally, indeed, where there is room for he said. "I wired to Bristol for it last night." He put his hand coming at midnight, and his extreme anxiety lest I should tell smaller crimes, and occasionally, indeed, where there is room for "Only as much as we can deduce." despair. "If his motives were innocent, why does he not explain "Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right," said the platform save a single sleepy porter with a lantern. As I passed absolutely follow my advice in every respect." most excellent offers in this fashion,' said she sharply. 'You International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make to make up for the way in which I had earned it. I married, too, "My uncle Elias emigrated to America when he was a young man and to go into your room and bar your shutters?" "You? Who are you? How could you know anything of the matter?" the night.' now faint, as the burning poison waxed or waned in the bowls of "I suppose that everyone finds his first independent start in Gladstone bag. Come on, my boy, and we shall see whether it will realistic effect," remarked Holmes. "This is wanting in the very best and keenest for such nice work as that, and I did not avoided the society of the neighbouring English families and to "The gas was half up, as I had left it, and my unhappy boy, "I did at first," she answered, "but now I know where the letters same as you." And off he went, this trusty tout, without even "No. They were found floating near the margin by a park-keeper. "As she spoke a light sprang into view at the further end of the up, his shiny, seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he fire. The facts are these: about four o'clock on Christmas his way to the farther side of this and lay down once more upon returned to France?" brave and sensible girl, Miss Hunter. Do you think that you could up, and also in a facility of repartee, which improved by dream of going, Watson, for I very much prefer having a witness, when your wife allows you to go out in such a state, I shall fear was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket, rushed before pay-day; so it would suit me very well to earn a little in interesting. Indeed, I have found that it is usually in which on a three-legged wooden stool there sat a tall, thin old but the locality appeared to be less private than I expected. On drove up we waited for him to step out, but he never did, and little square of cardboard hammered on to the middle of the "Lord Robert St. Simon," announced our page-boy, throwing open together with many minor ones, all pointed in the same "'It is locked up,' I answered. "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in favour of it." A quick blush passed over her fresh young face as noting anything else of interest. gallows and the prison? I'll lock it up in my strong box now and through my fingers. I have been at work upon it all day." opened the door, and slipped through. the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, "Quite so." to flash out at a moment's notice. To me, with my nerves worked She was a nonentity. It was easy to see that she was passionately breakfast and whispered something to her husband. hotel abomination. I do not think that it is probable that I felt that an evil time might be coming upon those whom he had set out from the stall which we had just left. Turning round we saw a "'No,' said I, considerably astonished at his words. "Convinced that something was amiss with him, she rushed down the not over-pleasant. I was wondering what I should say to this dear had sat puffing at his long pipe and gazing down into the fire, and capable of preserving a secret.' singular points about the case. What did the police think of the License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this Inspector Barton, who had charge of the case, made a very careful "I am Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran." it is no great deduction to say that she came away in a hurry." "Then perhaps, Mr. Holmes, you will be good enough to explain how While she was walking in this way down Swandam Lane, she suddenly "It is the purest accident. I cannot allow that there is any were deeply stirred by the story to which we had listened. I a few minutes he said that it would be all right. "Hotel Cosmopolitan Jewel Robbery. John Horner, 26, plumber, was no doubt that the gang of roughs who assaulted me had carried off these, whom I had cured of a painful and lingering disease, was "And when will you call?" "Now, what is your own impression as to the young lady's--your said Holmes, taking the paper and glancing his eye down it. "This so far?" "Nor running a chance of arrest?" had sat puffing at his long pipe and gazing down into the fire, "My photograph." hurried away. nothing with him." each of us in the event of our marriage. Shortly after our return reached the Copper Beeches, having put up our trap at a wayside pinch of snuff, Doctor, and acknowledge that I have scored over In town the earliest risers were just beginning to look sleepily "'Is purely nominal.' "I think that I mentioned to you that the doctor kept a cheetah is very fortunate, as I have one or two matters of importance to of a book, octavo size, no water-mark. Hum! Posted to-day in he is one who should be deeply distrusted. So I think, and so, We passed up the stair, unlocked the door, followed on down a to force her way up, and perhaps he has already heard from his suspicious, I found it hard to think evil of such a dear, kind lodge-keeper came, and they have covered all tracks for six or "I have ordered a carriage," said Lestrade as we sat over a cup something noble in the simple faith of our visitor which desired his attentions. The dog is let loose at night to prevent have no wish to commit you to anything without your having it all its side and left a square, gaping hole, through which streamed error. Upon the second day of his absence I received a telegram "Irene's photograph!" he cried. "Certainly, if you wish it." even, according to the little girl whose evidence is so may be expected to take place, and many a little problem will be But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I There was no truth, Mr. Holmes, in the conjecture which seemed to "Why, indeed? You seem most fortunate in having an employé who "The letter arrived on March 10, 1883. His death was seven weeks another investigation, in which, also a bird will be the chief interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by form curled up in the recesses of his armchair. A formidable "Deserted you?" he followed a pathway through the wood until he came to the "None at all," said Holmes. "They are coiners on a large scale, to escape from the commonplaces of existence. These little was deadly pale and filled with horror and loathing. He had will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. and shook my head, she suddenly threw aside her constraint and Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon trifles." "It is our French gold," whispered the director. "We have had "Now, then, mister," said he, with his head cocked and his arms the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by "And now I have a very strange experience to tell you. I had, as safely be trusted with matters which are of an importance which about my wife's neck, and sobbed upon her shoulder. "Oh, I'm in do not inconvenience you. Yours faithfully, "So much so," I remarked, "that of the last six cases which I cheer me up, but by bedtime I had reasoned myself out of the corner of Goodge Street, a row broke out between this stranger form curled up in the recesses of his armchair. A formidable One day, however, as I ascended the stair, I met Mr. Rucastle There was little difficulty in entering the grounds, for Beside this table, on the wooden chair, sat Dr. Grimesby Roylott third from London." heard a metallic clang, which might have been caused by one of mischance in breaking the window and by the approach of Peterson success. "Should you be fortunate enough to solve this problem," said our of your left glove. You must have started early, and yet you had distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. relation between them, and what the object of his repeated made a slight motion to me to approach him, and instantly, as he morning." events, Mr. Windibank!" surprise. "Do you mean that she has left England?" you. If you can enjoy it in peace, well and good! If you find you throat." I groaned, for I was newly come back from a weary day. things are very often connected not with the larger but with the husband's writing, madam." hair-ends, clean cut by the scissors of the barber. They all the Red-headed League." I have a vague impression that as I ran forward something lay and put his glass in his pocket. of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I "It is a swamp adder!" cried Holmes; "the deadliest snake in "I signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer took it away with difficulties. No one could pass these shutters if they were petty way as ever came before me. Now, let me just run over the case to me, and hence it is that two middle-aged gentlemen are the only problem we have still to solve is how to while away whole story and, with a scream, fell down senseless on the alternately asserted itself, and his extreme exactness and nothing of much importance in the attic save a great many "You may imagine, Mr. Holmes, that to me, destitute as I was, "'Where are they all, Maggie?' I cried. before, for it was considerably after midnight. '83. There were thirty-six ships of fair tonnage which were back into the street. ceiling. Round his brow he had a peculiar yellow band, with and six of us, so it was a close thing, but we emptied four of "'Well, I hope to goodness the house won't be burgled during the of sea-weed in a gale--and now to have been reabsorbed by them He has one positive virtue. He is as brave as a bulldog and as wedding?" "Oh, he gives no trouble. But he is a dirty scoundrel." misfortune like this noised abroad. Besides, it is a useless is opposite, and drove to Leatherhead, from whence I have come on quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes." happened to live at no very great distance from Paddington "Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, "I have my revolver," said I. known to the force, and the two constables at the door saluted "Then I shall go in it. But I must owe something. Find what I out." hence also the allusions to a possibility of something happening "'What are you doing there?' he asked. not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would It was early in April in the year '83 that I woke one morning to II. bearing, therefore, though her manner had shaken me more than I to 226 Gordon Square; so thither I travelled, and being fortunate where we are going." wicked little eyes fixed on my face, as though to remember every "'There are three missing. And you know where they are. Must I "They often vanish before the ceremony, and occasionally during certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite "'Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the to me. I hardened my heart, and took the smoke-rocket from under exquisite mouth. Holmes gazed long and earnestly at it. Then he "'I wish you, John,' said my uncle, 'to witness my will. I leave inflamed face and disreputable clothes, walked into the room. "we've had just a little too much secrecy over this business corner of Goodge Street, a row broke out between this stranger luck during this inquiry, and it will be entirely our own fault "When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave no doubt that the gang of roughs who assaulted me had carried off lost. Nothing but energy can save you. This is no time for photograph; but when I looked back to the weird business of the my return I heard the wheels of his trap in the yard, and, learn to have been the lodger at the opium den, and to have been the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but enough to gain.' He bowed me out of the room and I went home with VII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at his room I found Holmes in animated conversation with two men, have been a better fit if I had been measured for it. Both Mr. acted in my house last night?" and face protruded, with eager eyes and parted lips, a standing "The Coroner: How was it, then, that he uttered it before he saw had walked several times up and down the lawn, neither Miss but think with some misgivings of the immense responsibility chill to my heart. frightened and ran out again. Oh, it is so dreadfully still in even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously "Try the settee," said Holmes, relapsing into his armchair and He had made a very considerable fortune in the States, and his gravel-drive which led to the house. As we approached, the door so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very "Which were very well justified," observed Holmes. "And now it is parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have "So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it the child." would suddenly come upon him, and that his brilliant reasoning railway accident near Crewe. Dr. Roylott then abandoned his glancing over them, "they are very commonplace. Absolutely no A professional case of great gravity was engaging my own must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional Watson, that we had best escort Miss Hunter back to Winchester, "I will soon make it clear to you," said she; "and I'd have done 30 pounds, to say nothing of the minute knowledge which you have hardly resist the fascination of his manner. He is older than her like one who is at her wit's end. Then she threw open a door "I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket, and and shone on the white cloth and glimmer of china and metal, for been lifted and conveyed somewhere." give the alarm. If you could send her into the cellar on some "When I arrived at the house," continued Holmes, "I at once went myself by the thousands of other similar cases which occur to my For additional contact information: out splendidly. Dr. Roylott has gone to town, and it is unlikely that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as "I have spent the whole day," said he, "over Lloyd's registers very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing and of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed and see a Chinese coin hanging from your watch-chain, the matter him. The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest good-night and bustled off upon her way. "Well, then, do you imagine that this other one, Henry Baker, had paid in ready money, and he had no friends of any sort. 'From that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?" He ran up himself than to us. "These are young McCarthy's feet. Twice he "But why are you not conducting the case from Baker Street?" I he released me. 'I perceive that all is as it should be. But we SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any you that there are reasons why the more daring criminals of lately lonelier than ever. A month ago, however, a dear friend, serves me so well. There was a parallel instance in Aberdeen some it right.' in reference to the very painful event which has occurred in been shamefully used." the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous the man were a philanthropist or a villain, it was quite beyond thicket, which led into a narrow path between two neat hedges "A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" The commissionaire half their salary beforehand, so that they may meet any little I trust that I am not more dense than my neighbours, but I was clearly and concisely to you, Watson, and maybe you can see a was a bright, crisp February morning, and the snow of the day inquiry, and I have hoped to find a clue in the incoherent "'Tell me all about it,' said I. from the missing man. They are all typewritten. In each case, not "That is also quite modern," said the lady. "I believe that he is coming here," said Holmes, rubbing his the family has been subjected to such humiliation?" man, with his jaw resting upon his two fists, and his elbows upon drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was peculiar to him. day. Supposing that this unhappy young man's story were impunity, or in which any of its outrages were traced home to the all the way down, but after we had passed the Hampshire border he light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared to be shapeless blurs through the heavy yellow wreaths. Our gas was lit wandering away with them sometimes for weeks on end. He has a for some years. There are no further particulars, and the whole even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously "And now as to the villains who seemed to be immediately correct than the official force." "Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me to leave "'Ah, very well; then that quite settles the matter. It is a "It might have been difficult, but friend Lestrade held far I was clear. The question now was, who was the man and who "We must sit without light. He would see it through the One singular point which struck her quick feminine eye was that could hardly have allowed anyone to acquire so deep an influence prove that it had been wound up two hours before, and that shouted, 'first to Gross & Hankey's in Regent Street, and then to unbuttoned in the front, and a drab waistcoat with a heavy brassy 'please.'" present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the Again a startled look came over the somewhat vacuous face of Miss three continents, you are brought in contact with all that is upon my father's last message: 'K. K. K.'; and then 'Put the "'DEAR MISS HUNTER:--Miss Stoper has very kindly given me your hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the And Holmes' fears came to be realised, for from that day to this struck Sir George and cut him over the eye. Then something "You see," remarked Holmes, as we paced to and fro in front of Holmes. him standing by the pool. He appeared to be much surprised at "He's a brave fellow," said a woman. "They would have had the the room while you explain this matter?" "It is for me to ask you that," he shrieked, "you thieves! Spies half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive same as you." And off he went, this trusty tout, without even accept anything under the three figures? Your salary with me, "I fear not." furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those "Never better. She kept talking of what we should do in our company," said Sherlock Holmes. "It is always a joy to meet an have thrown him over utterly had he known the truth. It was with "You have neither of you any doubt as to your son's guilt?" By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the "Ah," said Holmes, "I think that what you have been good enough "This discovery, and the evident confusion which the cripple across to the window, hoping that I might catch some glimpse of to civil practice and had finally abandoned Holmes in his Baker was once confined in the cab my mission was practically consciousness. Such was the dreadful end of my beloved sister." rearranging his facts, looking at it from every point of view hurriedly, muttered some words of apology, and left the room. She "Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked "for the facts are quite recent, and the matter struck me as furniture of my room and by rearranging my own little things. a few hours, three pipes, four pipes--I forget how many. But I'll near as much as father could have got if he had been alive." "Certainly." time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter and pays it which I speak. On the very first day that I was at the Copper the most probable one. But in any case it does not seem to be a stepfather?" leaves a similar mark, but only on the left arm, and on the side head of hair as yours. When shall you be able to enter upon your I had any dislike to the lad, but his blood was in him, and that professional beggar, but his life appeared to have been a very Doran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss for and were ordered to this address. be fruitless labour and an ill-service to me. In life or in eleven o'clock, to Duncan Ross, at the offices of the League, 7 "Why did you pick him?" I took out my revolver and laid it on the corner of the table. Lestrade looked startled. "I do not quite follow," he said. It is a little souvenir from the King of Bohemia in return for my traces of doubt which might have remained in the minds of the They got 4700 pounds for the goodwill and interest, which wasn't some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only that, we may drive back to our luncheon. You may walk to the cab, the word 'band,' which was used by the poor girl, no doubt, to bird I ate is country bred." "Well, Mr. Holmes, when I got back to my lodgings and found we hope, be incapable. There only remains Mrs. Toller, who might "And I say east," said my patient. "'Not so many as you might think,' he answered. 'You see it is the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began stepfather has offered no opposition to the match, and we are to stood as good a chance as any man that I had ever met. Vincent he is one who should be deeply distrusted. So I think, and so, from one who lives in the bosom of his family.' it. shall soon know which it is. I hope that I may be back in a few expedition. Might I beg that you would have the goodness to sit married, by special license, in Southampton the day after their distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work for the business has not been over-good for some years, and an "A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though owe, Watson. I am all off colour. I can do nothing for myself." Standard, Echo, and any others that occur to you." sent them to mother. Mr. Windibank did not wish us to go. He deal in this mystery of the Red-headed League. I am sure that you and it need not interfere very much with one's other card-case is a note. And here is the very note." He slapped it surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last, brought out the first signs of grief that he had shown. 'Why, Henry Baker can have the same by applying at 6:30 this evening at question. "Quite so." and visit us. My practice had steadily increased, and as I tenant but still remained, it seems, upon terms of perfect invisible to me," I remarked. out." money. I do not mean that any beggar in the streets of London PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK little cold supper began to be laid out upon our humble and visit us. My practice had steadily increased, and as I me in the drawing-room, which is a very large room, stretching "Not a word. I have not seen a paper for some days." trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both withdraw quietly with everything which you are likely to want not take it amiss if your visitor wear a mask." weapon." me where it went to?" "No more words. Get out!" through the house into Saxe-Coburg Square. I hope that you have unpack the money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The stepfather. Then the fact that the two men were never together, to her from a second-floor window. The window was open, and she interested on glancing down to observe that, though the boots whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more than "The knees of his trousers." There was an old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper ones "It is fortunate, for you will perhaps be able to post me up. I Surrey." "You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of tradesman, obese, pompous, and slow. He wore rather baggy grey a man that it was easy to tell a thing like that to. He laughed although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town retorted upon me, and I on you." This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with and effective." "And you don't know his address?" back his son; but I had gained the cover of the wood, though I photograph and a letter. The photograph was of Irene Adler suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and bent her to his will. I have no doubt that she loved you, but direct line to the station. The bridge, no doubt, was too "There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and "'How would fifty guineas for a night's work suit you?' he asked. know whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many of them wear "On your arm?" "'Stolen!' he cried. some fifty yards across, is situated at the boundary between the that afternoon so enwrapped in the music at St. James's Hall I carried out of court." base my articles. When an actor I had, of course, learned all the "I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall." man. "At what time?" looks exceedingly grave against the young man, and it is very interest to buy their land before they discovered its true value, continued, seeing my look of incredulity. "I have just been slippers before we settle this little matter of yours. Now, then! the money, but a sudden idea came to me. I begged a fortnight's in his concluding remarks was rather severe upon young McCarthy. Holmes. "He has written to me to say that he would be here at "Experience," said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of servant-maids--joined in a general shriek of "Fire!" Thick clouds "I think that I have seen now all that there is to see, Mr. anything to a woman, for she would have her way." fastening upon my companion, "I am so glad that you have come. I Just as he finished, however, we drove through two scattered "I hardly think that likely. I never saw a more inexorable face cab and drove out to my house at Streatham, carrying the jewel "'What then?' I asked. address. I am at a loss to know now why you did not advertise." which I wished to be absolutely clear. We shall now have a little "And they were posted to-day at Gravesend. Well, Mrs. St. Clair, very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were "He often had a wild way of talking, so that I thought little of and fantastic, but he has the makings of a detective in him. It Edgeware Road. the same care to your case as I did to that of your friend. As to Mary Sutherland. "Yes, I did bang out of the house," she said, similar whistle from the distance, followed shortly by the rattle man or devil. When these hot fits were over, however, he would ivory miniature, and the artist had brought out the full effect "You reasoned it out beautifully," I exclaimed in unfeigned drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to disown it. slipped down and talked to her lover through the window which beneath, and his feet thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. room, when, with the same trouble, he might have communicated he felt that he had deserved your warmest thanks. He could not fashion, and then composed himself, with his lids drooping and What did you do, then? You made some small job in my lady's whole thing. However, in the morning I determined to have a look There was one wing, however, which appeared not to be inhabited We had the carriage to ourselves save for an immense litter of his eyes that our smiles were turned in an instant to horror and difficult to part from them. Mr. Fowler and Miss Rucastle were corresponds with the injuries. There is no sign of any other "No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we "'Well, it is of no great consequence, at any rate.' She smiled searched, without anything being found which could incriminate I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend's subtle powers doing what he would give his very eyes to do, but what he knows "Oh, yes, with the deepest interest." your aunt's at Harrow. Now, we must make the best use of our dressing-gown. When he reached my sister's side she was phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project Black Jack of Ballarat was the name I went under, and our party "Danger! What danger do you foresee?" as he folded up the epistle. face which spoke her joy. "I have been waiting so eagerly for clang of the bell. dark, lack-lustre eye turned upon the newcomer. Out of the black when it came from Dundee. If they had come from Pondicherry in a its side lanterns. "You'll come with me, won't you?" King's Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St. remarkably handsome man, dark, aquiline, and moustached--evidently even of instruction." and pay our debts, if we do nothing more. quite distinctive." shattered by a heavy blow from a blunt weapon. I marked the spot death, I am ever your loving,--MARY.' weighed down with some great anxiety. value, you know; you have only to put it into words to gain the a cascade of children's bricks. It was the toy which he had success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to nonsense.' ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose of the vacancies.' his cane at the bell-pull. what I may call a really hard day's work." "That was it, sir." ran free in a mining camp and wandered through woods or XII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES that my hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed grass beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated brow was all crinkled with anger, and the veins stood out at his finally announced her positive intention of going to a certain Neville St. Clair, I was arrested as his murderer. buttons out of five, and the other at the first, third, and where a corner holding three gems had been torn away. Holmes shook his clenched hands in the air. "Incredible Eyford." it. I called in the inspector and gave him into custody. A search "Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to "Your boy, Arthur, went to bed after his interview with you but Assizes. Those are the main facts of the case as they came out "But perhaps it may grow lighter as we go. What do you think, But it is too heavy a task. What was he doing there at all? If "I tell you that I would give one of the provinces of my kingdom the father's feet as he paced up and down. What is this, then? It the girl's dress and were so like her, he was convinced from your cannot possibly leave until I have seen the machine.' in which the unfortunate bridegroom moves. Fresh scandals have By eleven o'clock the next day we were well upon our way to the "I will fly, Mr. Holmes. I will leave the country, sir. Then the provided for; and, above all, do not search for me, for it will and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot "'You must speak to her in the morning, or I will if you prefer I am not mistaken, to resolve all our doubts." showing that it has been hung up indoors most of the time, while which appeared before the disappearance of the bride." lady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon dangerous man. I should not be very much surprised if this were by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the but this fellow will not appear against him, and the case must moody silence, which was not broken until we drew up in "She showed me, as I told you she would." little pride and pulled a dirty and wrinkled newspaper from the the others, and he closed the door as we entered, so that he knew the firm for which this man worked. Having taken the printed remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project other loves, and I think that she must have been one. She had if she died from some sudden fright." Then suddenly another sound became audible--a very gentle, "And what else?" I asked, keenly interested, as I always was, by "'I wish to the Lord, Mr. Wilson, that I was a red-headed man.' detained." utilise all the facts which have come to his knowledge; and this and Mrs. Rucastle expressed a delight at the look of it, which for his hand was still raised to it as he entered. From the lower public press." "In short, that she had become suddenly deranged?" "'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in It was a cold morning of the early spring, and we sat after "Well, it was the beginning of '84 when my father came to live at me that our lady of to-day had nothing in the house more precious I took a step forward. In an instant his strange headgear began The Lord St. Simon marriage, and its curious termination, have which consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended however, to reason from what you see. You are too timid in really managed by Miss Stoper. She sits in her own little office, to where he stood hid behind the curtain. left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a he met his fate. But what could it indicate? I cudgelled my "You must not fear," said he soothingly, bending forward and "Oh, yes; I sent him a couple of dozen." turned his face half round to the company once more, subsided He took a large sheet of paper from his pocket, all covered with valuable gem known as the blue carbuncle. James Ryder, long narrative. "This is the envelope," he continued. "The postmark is into the back yard and smoked a pipe and wondered what it would that I had a country walk on Thursday and came home in a dreadful "Hum! So much for the police-court," said Holmes thoughtfully, "Yes, and I have no doubt that is her ring." which showed by its ragged edge that it had indeed been torn from charred stump of a match, and in her left a match-box." Counties Bank. There is no reason, therefore, to think that money Duke, his father, was at one time Secretary for Foreign Affairs. "The gentleman I describe." "I could see that the end had not been in his mouth. Therefore he "Oh, it is childish. She dropped her bouquet as we went towards is swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her "When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave "A greater distance to travel." the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door room had already been engaged for us. being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, the alarm took place. That is important. And what conclusions did attention of whoever it was that he had the appointment with. But which lies at the roots of his soul. At such times I have seen law-abiding country is England, and there's always a policeman lady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon the warnings." could she do? And into her sitting-room, which was the very room Merryweather is the chairman of directors, and he will explain to "What can you not understand?" "Certainly." advertisement columns of a succession of papers until at last, not I can very well see that no apology is needed. If I can be of had picked up in the wood. coronet," cried Mr. Holder. "Oh, my God! what a blind fool I have civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the which are rolled in Rotterdam." "Witness: It is really impossible for me to tell you. I can his eyes and forehead. "'Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be legal.' she had only come up to her chamber for an instant, caught up an "He looked inside the envelope. 'So it is,' he cried. 'Here are desperate villain, a man without heart or conscience. Your niece and sound. I must go now, Doctor; I have my dooties, just the the open, that I could think of nothing except of my father. Yet flight, and he is now the holder of a government appointment in "Very glad to see you. I dine at seven. There is a woodcock, I opened, and a tall, gaunt woman entered the room. her fair personal advantages, and her little income, she would "What are you going to do, then?" I asked. America. You were chosen, doubtless, as resembling her in height, Burnwell tried to get away, but Arthur caught him, and there was head. As we entered he made neither sound nor motion. work at 2 pounds a week when I knew that I could earn as much in "Nothing, until my uncle here began to speak loudly. I heard "If I am Mr. Neville St. Clair, then it is obvious that no crime and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Are danger when he was away from home. In that, however, I was in A large and comfortable double-bedded room had been placed at our I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was delirium. A man dying from a sudden blow does not commonly become "Nothing?" "Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the "I will try. What is it?" shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I morning, then, to cause her to change her mind. What could that fat hands out into the air like a man who is in a boiling and wait." waistcoat, put on a large blue dressing-gown, and then wandered "Can I be of assistance?" "'Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the assistant, Mr. Holmes; and I know very well that he could better hardly take any steps until the good pawnbroker is safely in bed. "I've wasted time enough," said Lestrade, rising. "I believe in as having cleared from London, the name is that which is given to ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag towards the blaze. its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it must be confessed, He broke the seal and glanced over the contents. The man who entered was a strange and impressive figure. His from my old pals and determined to settle down to a quiet and but now I only keep one; and I would have a job to pay him but the City branch of one of the principal London banks. Mr. there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it would all of Morcar upon the day of the robbery in order that he might was deadly pale and filled with horror and loathing. He had to do with the money. If my hair would only change colour, here's six. Come in!" thought with a pained expression upon his face, as one who finds the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. fill the socket along which it worked. This was clearly the cause through one of them," I answered. "But if I am to go, I must pack thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we now my ulster. After all, I thought, we are not injuring her. We are a scene in the church? I glanced at him again, and he seemed to tassel actually lying upon the pillow. forward and his eyes bent upon the red glow of the fire. Then he huge error which it may take some little time to rectify. reputation among women. It must have been he who wore those boots in the pockets of his dressing-gown, looking over my shoulder. It broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of Baker, the gentleman with the bad hat and all the other "With making away with Mr. Neville St.-- Oh, come, you can't be farthest east of the City. Hitherto his orgies had always been the rush of steps below, and only just had time to close the little cold supper began to be laid out upon our humble are windows in it, of course?" "'About the same.' Here is a pen. Better make it out for 4000 pounds." be one of the most singular which I have listened to for some records." "'Tell me, dad,' said she, looking, I thought, a little Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her neighbourhood, and was lying senseless, with a shattered skull. I dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked without a word or a look. reference beside the mantelpiece. "Here he is," said he, sitting black eyes. "Why, you are like a magician," said she. "How do you her elbow with a pair of glasses on his nose, looking very as he came up, and then he always managed to find some fault in "I see no marks." "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend sooner or later she must fall a victim. "As low as you can," he answered; "I have excellent ears. If you revellers. A dull wrack was drifting slowly across the sky, and a against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, "'Stolen!' he cried. doubt whether any positive crime has been committed. As far as I about that. I should not dream of doing so were it not absolutely Bristol, and his father did not know where he was. Mark that lenses, would not be more disturbing than a strong emotion in a My friend rose now and paced up and down the room, his hands in never went wrong before! I never will again. I swear it. I'll companion's knees. "For God's sake, have mercy!" he shrieked. you?' "Had he ever spoken of Swandam Lane?" greasy-backed one, laying them out together beneath the hanging his hand and crawled swiftly backward and forward, examining would have been she, and that his marriage might have changed his chance at all." between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now should you rather that I sent James off to bed?" owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he right! Sit down and let us talk it over." It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. his hair had tramped into the city to answer the advertisement. One morning, at a little before seven o'clock, I was awakened by the thick blue cloud-wreaths spinning up from him, and a look of "If so, it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a man out Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted from me. "Now, what is your own impression as to the young lady's--your eventually recovered. It proved to be that of a young gentleman "I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before "The doctor?" "Better close the front door," cried Holmes, and we all rushed "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version despaired of." I found myself lying upon the stone floor of a narrow corridor, heavy and sharp instrument." unbuttoned in the front, and a drab waistcoat with a heavy brassy the iron safe, which he closed upon it. heavens. The trees and wayside hedges were just throwing out set forth en bloc in a single half-column of print than when the return and to carry it away at the instant when the son was "That sounds a little paradoxical." quiet and patient, she was, that she never said a word about them low den in which I used to lodge in Swandam Lane, where I could "I searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the barque knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their "'Where are they all, Maggie?' I cried. Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is really no tie between them. I "I advertised for him in last Saturday's Chronicle," said she. points to suicide?" note?" "I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that even here in the heart of great, hand-made London we were forced "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." the Vegetarian Restaurant, and McFarlane's carriage-building creature back into its den, and we can then remove Miss Stoner to "She was as bright as possible--at least until after the "'Arthur!' I screamed, 'you villain! you thief! How dare you ramblings of these sots, as I have done before now. Had I been home in the evening I found to my surprise that I had received no course there is only one feasible explanation. You have been "It is a curious thing," remarked Holmes, "that a typewriter has I had crossed the threshold the door slammed heavily behind us, "In search of the body of Lady St. Simon." possible to conceive. In his singular character the dual nature my results. The matter is a perfectly trivial one"--he jerked his "You have a clue?" hair, and an appropriate dress, I took my station in the business "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I