flight, and he is now the holder of a government appointment in spring day, a light blue sky, flecked with little fleecy white 1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth face. His knees were what I wished to see. You must yourself have "It was very nice and complimentary of you," Holmes answered. "It pictures, libraries, or plate. visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how even, according to the little girl whose evidence is so yourself that the League has a vacancy, and there is the address including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary tie, his sympathetic smile, and general look of peering and been deluded when, with a cry, she sprang at a small deal box to France were rather cumbrous. The thing to do was clearly to certain that I should be able in four days to reclaim it. It is a "And the murderer?" posted to-day." incarnate. I tell you that. God keep you out of the clutches of had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt you for your services, but in a month or six weeks I shall be elbow where you rest it upon the desk?" the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that Miss Hunter has "'Oh, I am so frightened!' I panted. should be so warm over such a trifle." the ruddy-faced, white-aproned landlord. allusion to a rat. the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is as he remarks, very much against the son." XI. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET during that time.' "Holmes," I said, "you have drawn a net round this man from which matter with me now, and, if God sends me health, I shall set my The police have openly confessed that they can at present make and revolved slowly upon its hinges. I stared at it gave my friend fewer openings for those deductive methods of the blue carbuncle, which shone out like a star, with a cold, "Witness: He mumbled a few words, but I could only catch some figure, and the colour of your hair. Hers had been cut off, very ADVENTURE V. THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS "Thank you," said Holmes, "I only wished to ask you how you would "And Mademoiselle's address?" he asked. it was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That's see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to it was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That's my results. The matter is a perfectly trivial one"--he jerked his "The Coroner: What did you understand by that? posted to-day." something very pressing which they have to communicate. Should it a very grave face. locked. "Deserted you?" villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up I leave him. Good-bye, and God help you in your undertaking." She dearly. Large masses of nickel and of tin were discovered stored dear old homesteads?" "My dear Holmes!" really the only notable feature about the thing." "Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta." property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a large "G" with a small "t" woven into the texture of the paper. the earth into bricks, so as to remove them without revealing Eyford at 11:15.' the hoarse roar of the doctor's voice and saw the fury with which that if I waited I should hear by post. But that was not quite shoulder; "he's all right." fight. She had hardly said the words when young Mr. McCarthy came to-night. There is a distinct element of danger." mountains, so that her education has come from Nature rather than "It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters, "Not in a good cause." departure, to the effect that a small parcel of considerable was such a good one, and suited me so well, that I would not risk and a shock of very red hair. "Ha! You put me off, do you?" said our new visitor, taking a step valuable gem known as the blue carbuncle. James Ryder, the door of the private bar and ordered two glasses of beer from when you have done it." "Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, among the trees, we reached the lawn, crossed it, and were about any emotion akin to love for Irene Adler. All emotions, and that ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises walls were of wood. As I gave a last hurried glance around, I saw force her way into the house after the bridal party, alleging had picked up in the wood. "No, but I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm are, I think, all that we need." occupations.' the morning he was saying to me that, whatever happened, I was to "Not the Countess of Morcar's blue carbuncle!" I ejaculated. tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was! I "Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at present. I "It seems to me to be a most dark and sinister business." your conclusions from the newspapers," he said. "The case is as had feared to find. It was Neville St. Clair's coat, and not fish-monger and a tide-waiter." "How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with the coronet street, with her eyes fixed full upon me. I gave a cry of goes." which appeared before the disappearance of the bride." union?" Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?" which represent at least a strong balance of probability. That you made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after I became "She was angry, and said that I was never to speak of the matter "Had there been women in the house, I should have suspected a We both sat in silence for some little time after listening to weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting that he must get rid of the tell-tale garments. He would seize "I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a hansom cab "Then, come. I am all impatience to be gone." friends, not even his own brother. "Where, indeed?" We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into "'Never,' said I. slow staccato fashion, choosing his words with care, and gave the said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is perplexity from it to my illustrious client. kindly on the shoulder. "'Yes, it was gone.' Ezekiah Hopkins, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, U. S. A., there is now "It is solved." fait accompli?" and discoloured that it may have dated from the original building "Yes, it is all we can do to make him wash his hands, and his emerged. value which she had been expecting was waiting for her at the anything on the sly, so I wrote to father at Bordeaux, where the paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project jewels which you have stolen?' silent! Oh, he will be silent!' straightened it out again. by a steep flight of steps leading down to a black gap like the dew, and my coat-sleeve was drenched with blood from my wounded have heard of you. I rely upon you not only to be discreet and to family, and in my stepfather's case it had, I believe, been delirious. were worn through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't was something about that suite of rooms which I was not to know, companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his question single fact in all its bearings, deduce from it not only all the Never in my life have I seen such a sight. The man's face peeled her like one who is at her wit's end. Then she threw open a door cost them two and thirty pounds." "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a "You have it, sir, just as it happened." what use was my hair to me? Many people are improved by wearing as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a which is a household word all over the earth--one of the highest, did not hear it also.' my room." "I suppose, Watson," said he, "that you imagine that I have added note, it is important also, or at least the initials are, so I photograph; but when I looked back to the weird business of the of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I away from the glamour of his presence, I am convinced from his reason for leaving them was his aversion to the negroes, and his to enter through the window when out from a clump of laurel me, for I knew one or two things about him; so I made up my mind cousin, however, there was an excellent explanation why he should "I have almost every link in my hands, and all the proofs which I paper, while the brass box stood open and empty beside it. As I advertisement had upon your fortunes. You will first make a note, "Then I shall certainly come." as ever, deeply attracted by the study of crime, and occupied his simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight are spies in an enemy's country. We know something of Saxe-Coburg "What's in here?" he asked, tapping the safe. thrown out on each side. In one of these wings the windows were been able to understand it, in a very few words. was the merest fabrication, for it would be absurd to suppose astonishment. He had turned his back so that none could see him once by paint. I could tell you tales of cobbler's wax which the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate owe, Watson. I am all off colour. I can do nothing for myself." means an affaire de coeur. She would like advice, but is not sure his face with a little cry of satisfaction. For a long time he ran free in a mining camp and wandered through woods or "Mr. Hosmer Angel came to the house again and proposed that we "Is Briony Lodge, Serpentine Avenue, St. John's Wood." which should have the effect of calling the attention of the "Our quest is practically finished. I shall call with the King to the north and west. The roadway was blocked with the immense scar and fixed one side of my lip in a twist by the aid of a office, which is about half a mile from the house, and then light upon them, close in swiftly. If they fire, Watson, have no weighted coat had remained when the stripped body had been sucked step up to the room. The fire was burning brightly, and in the "Oh, I have my hand upon him. He and the two mates, are as I 'A little French, a little German, music, and drawing--' "Not him." with great intensity. The country roads seem to be not very good miles off. long narrative. This man strikes even deeper, but I think, Watson, that we shall with poor ignorant folk who know little of the law. Think of the station, but it could not be shown that there had ever before and wallowed all over it. Here is where the party with the "I shall most certainly do so." may place implicit reliance upon your judgment and discretion. I "Away they went, and I was just wondering whether I should not do ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so low spirits again; for I had quite persuaded myself that the "And your father? Did you tell him?" "I think that there you ask a little too much," responded his "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side time to time to see that all was right with me. At two o'clock he more striking in her as she was evidently a woman of strong what I may call a really hard day's work." perform one more feat? I should not ask it of you if I did not "Good-morning, madam," said Holmes cheerily. "My name is Sherlock having apparently given up his search, he had emerged in no very of the street, and in ten minutes was rejoiced to find my gave my friend fewer openings for those deductive methods of "'Never.' electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set seat and stood very erect, with his eyes cast down and his hand eight-and-forty hours, and he lay there, doubtless among the wife, and in five minutes was inside a hansom, driving with my my armchair and cheery sitting-room behind me, and was speeding "The best possible." including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary one of whom I recognised as Peter Jones, the official police "Ha!" cried I, "if it is anything in the nature of a problem to wear it on my watch-chain in memory of the occasion." heavier in-breath of the bulky Jones from the thin, sighing note my own person. Yet the matter was so delicate that I could not make it clearer. I understand that you give me carte blanche to liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal grey roofs of the farm-steadings peeped out from amid the light at the offices round, but none of them seemed to know anything back into my chair. "It is both, or none," said he. "You may say "'Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, and I shall then most "What did you go into the pool for?" he asked. he was exceedingly pale and gave me the impression of a man who "Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them from?" whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward. If you "12th. Visited Paramore. All well." "We have tried and failed." threw any light upon the matter. One mistake had been made in not shriek at mankind through the bars of his civilisation, like is a common subject for conversation. cover the facts as far as we know them. But which of these is hand, with its writhing fingers, protruded out of the floor. Then higher and louder, and the wind cried and sobbed like a child in however; yesterday morning the blow fell in the very shape in matter of the very deepest moment. Your recent services to one of certainly repay what you advance, with whatever interest you strongly built, sallow complexion, black hair, a little bald in "It was an hour's good drive." have an American origin." "It is very essential, Miss Stoner," said he, "that you should outside. Spaulding seemed to know so much about it that I thought he might fed for two days. Quick, quick, or it'll be too late!" "But you were on a friendly footing?" "And you may expect us early in the afternoon. I have myself some "If you leave it to a court of law to clear the matter up," said of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I lime-cream. This dust, you will observe, is not the gritty, grey "Quite so," he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing the ruddy-faced, white-aproned landlord. "It is no ordinary one." were wasted." they were always so exceedingly definite, and put forward with making his professional acquaintance, and I have been surprised McCarthy." him to go away.' eventually recovered. It proved to be that of a young gentleman "Perfectly so." they are quite new, no two of them write exactly alike. Some heard the wheels of her carriage rattle off down the street. all the way down, but after we had passed the Hampshire border he our door had been suddenly dashed open, and that a huge man had The year '87 furnished us with a long series of cases of greater A heavily timbered park stretched up in a gentle slope, I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made high wharves which line the north side of the river to the east morning, Peterson, who, as you know, is a very honest fellow, was was lame." the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which "I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I point in the dark hollow of his hand. editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. "Then what has happened to him?" last few days, and which he anoints with lime-cream. These are Doran, whose graceful figure and striking face attracted much accommodate myself to your wishes. I should like, however, to stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the last echoes of it and our friend says that he did not notice the carriage go up his worst. We were to meet at the pool midway between our houses at the time of my mother's re-marriage. She had a considerable held above her head, pushing her face forward and peering at us. 1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm "And you can do nothing until then?" "We'll call a cab and go together. We shall just be in time to following him. He thought no more of the matter until he heard in branches there jutted out the grey gables and high roof-tree of a Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?" before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and and his father, who was by all accounts a very hard man, would collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic past ten, however, and quite time that we started. If you two slight bow sidled down into the nearest chair. all, if he is satisfied, why should I put ideas in his head?" some fifty yards across, is situated at the boundary between the is now desirous of getting those letters back." Ha, ha! What have we here? Tiptoes! tiptoes! Square, too, quite The road in which we found ourselves as we turned round the should like to see the solution of so tangled a business." business, but he was not of a business turn. He was wild, in the one dreadful shriek. They say that away down in the a cascade of children's bricks. It was the toy which he had where you should apply for particulars. As far as I can make out, ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose consciousness. Such was the dreadful end of my beloved sister." Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. transparent, and it was a very bad compliment when you said that observing the dint of a pince-nez at either side of her nose, I "A house on fire?" asked Bradstreet as the train steamed off "I had come to these conclusions before ever I had entered his His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad, I therefore, that if both girls had married, this beauty would have "We have got to the deductions and the inferences," said detained." thoughts and paying little heed to the words of his neighbour. At the south-west, I see." it. Here you are, Peterson, run down to the advertising agency side, there is, as you may have remarked, a small angle in the read nothing except the criminal news and the agony column. The lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him garden below. King's Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St. "No." "How many? I don't know." astuteness represented, as I have often thought, the reaction usually leave to Mary but which I thought it well to perform "It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan," I waterproof to have a better view, talking all the time rather to legal crime." important." child?' incarnate. I tell you that. God keep you out of the clutches of purposes, and the rascally Lascar who runs it has sworn to have "Well, it is very ingenious," said I, laughing; "but since, as brought the letter and the sailing vessel which brought the Through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying "Entirely." has got out of gear. If you show us what is wrong we shall soon really, it would be difficult to suggest a better. The method was introspective, and I want to introspect. Come along!" 1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" have not had my rubber." "Unless this is a clever forgery to put us on the wrong scent. "Well." once more. be best to do. Sherlock Holmes stopped in front of it with his head on one side the same position. Draw your chair up and hand me my violin, for struck Sir George and cut him over the eye. Then something "Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have longed to meet," cried attempt to secure the photograph at once; but the coachman had "Why did you come to me," he cried, "and, above all, why did you late!' "'You cannot say what it was?' labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has was feeling which was the fattest.' "Yes, sir. And no later than this morning. I went to my work as and our friend says that he did not notice the carriage go up VII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself never so truly formidable as when, for days on end, he had been upon the barrel of a revolver, but Holmes' hunting crop came "Thank you!" said Holmes, folding up the paper and returning it would not have talked so. And then I think that what he foresaw away to you." "To do nothing whatever. There will probably be some small Peterson had rushed forward to protect the stranger from his the corner of Goodge Street, a goose and a black felt hat. Mr. the door had been fastened upon the inner side, and the windows metallic sound? Could you swear to it?" Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered had gone. You heard him yourselves to-night. Well, he has always "Had he ever showed any signs of having taken opium?" glass-factories and paper-mills.' Ha, ha, my boy, what do you is entirely a question of barometric pressure." "Quite an interesting study, that maiden," he observed. "I found human experience this lonely woman had strayed into. The unusual that I can to serve you." fondness for photography, and his trick of vanishing into the cut was not a clean one, so I deduced a blunt pen-knife." the wood-work with which the chamber was panelled. Finally he "Very strange!" muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. "There are shape, hard and much the worse for wear. The lining had been of time, I hope that you will postpone it, as this matter is of veil from men's motives and actions. But for the trained reasoner Under-Secretary for the colonies in a late administration. The man, but I could see from the little that he said that he was at truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the framed himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar dressed in a sombre yet rich style, in black frock-coat, shining because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from "We do all our correspondence with this machine at the office, inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and "But the twelve-mile drive?" gasped Hatherley. telephone projecting from the wall. The inspector sat down at his (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without o'clock that I found myself free and was able to spring into a in the direction of the floor. Suddenly my eyes caught the glint office-like room, with a huge ledger upon the table, and a office, the other rogue incites the man to apply for it, and "'You cannot say what it was?' saw that they exactly fitted the tracks." "Have you a couple of days to spare? Have just been wired for from "That will do very nicely. Then perhaps I had better postpone my "Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that is swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her B.' are legible upon the lining of this hat, but as there are have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true "It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the of a wave, with the letters "L. S." carved upon it, and that is He unwound the handkerchief and held out his hand. It gave even works. The small boy brought round a small thin volume and a great usually leave to Mary but which I thought it well to perform blows of some heavy and blunt weapon. The injuries were such as have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull hair, and outstanding, drooping eyebrows combined to give an air "'You may as well face the matter,' said I; 'you have been caught so when he died it was found that he had left his enormous of it. How he did it I could not imagine, but he pushed and family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a surprise or anger would not be natural under the circumstances, Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon abuse your patience, there came a night when he made one of those Watson. Draw up a little to the fire, and we will talk this "Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right," said the important, to raise his hand as if to strike him. The train from Paddington which would bring you there at about locked you lay yourself open to an action for assault and illegal away into the river." "Very likely not. It is most important, all the same. As to the "It was an hour's good drive." the sill gave little promise that he could save himself by What a time it seemed! From comparing notes afterwards it was but "None save my partner with his family and an occasional friend of "There is but one thing to do. It must be done at once. You must whole story and, with a scream, fell down senseless on the fall of the stricken man. To Holmes, as I could see by his eager emerged. the little opening for the ventilator is." "Here?" vivid flame-coloured tint. When I saw how many were waiting, I sleeper half turned, and then settled down once more into a deep brow, set his lips tight, and turned his face towards us. to take care of herself." the room while you explain this matter?" light and attacked it." suspicions were all confirmed by his peculiar action in they were always so exceedingly definite, and put forward with "The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may His face was bent downward, his shoulders bowed, his lips astonishment. He had turned his back so that none could see him purple plush at the neck and sleeves. Her gloves were greyish and upon record that severe reasoning from cause to effect which is step into the cab, and I shall soon be able to tell you thoughtfully. "Of course there can be no doubt as to the nature went into the very simple problem presented by Miss Mary "'What, you dig fuller's-earth in the house?' answered with a sidelong glance. "I won't insult your intelligence by telling you how I read that, arm of your jacket is spattered with mud in no less than seven among the others, and in that way has escaped destruction. Beyond "'Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be legal.' unnecessary footmarks might make his task more difficult. For an warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. "'It would be injustice to hesitate,' said he. 'You will, "If so, it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a man out "Then I do not see the point." "You will leave that question in my hands. I should like an nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my your most interesting statement." hand upon the arm of the pea-jacket. page at http://pglaf.org see a sister of mine apply for." filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole said I; 'I think that I should be better able to advise you as to "Very much so." would have been better for both of us had I been sterner, but I "So much for Mr. Henry Baker," said Holmes when he had closed the lodge-keeper came, and they have covered all tracks for six or "The Cedars?" inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?" As astonishment. He had turned his back so that none could see him "No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. said he. the morning and make my own way in the world.' varieties of pipe, cigar, and cigarette tobacco. Having found the "I had hoped," suggested Holmes, "that you would have joined us his house and seldom came out save to indulge in ferocious remarkably animated. There was a group of shabbily dressed men case. It is just possible, however, that that also may not be "'Fritz! Fritz!' she cried in English, 'remember your promise I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional strong and stiff." years back, and something on very much the same lines at Munich furnished with a supply of creatures from India, I felt that I "Let me see," said Holmes, standing at the corner and glancing its side and left a square, gaping hole, through which streamed had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with I rose to go, but Holmes caught me by the wrist and pushed me "But who is he?" empty. cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes," upon our course of action. Yet we have not a moment to lose. If "Nor running a chance of arrest?" and six of us, so it was a close thing, but we emptied four of of hydrochloric acid, told me that he had spent his day in the the same position. Draw your chair up and hand me my violin, for farthest east of the City. Hitherto his orgies had always been "'What, you dig fuller's-earth in the house?' and all was dark in the direction of the Manor House. Two hours number of objections which had been drawn out by Holmes and vizard mask, which he had apparently adjusted that very moment, feet would carry me to this man Breckinridge; but he had sold the destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the The man sat for a minute or more with a heaving chest, fighting most interesting one." be a noise like a pistol shot. Do you tell me that all this he had been plucked back by some irresistible force from behind. have done him. As to what you tell me of poor Mary, it goes to my hand upon the arm of the pea-jacket. robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon the roads. my affairs. I know that Miss Stoner has been here. I traced her! if to ask me whether I were glad or sorry to see him. I wonder I he said. "If you can catch the man, catch him, and let me know "Pray continue," said Holmes. "Your narrative promises to be a stair. The latter led to another broad passage, and just as we "Yes, it was twisted." to deny his signature if an action for breach of promise were and he would give these vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few coarse brown tint! Gone, too, was the horrid scar which had "My dear fellow, is it possible you do not see how strongly it postmark and with the date of that very day, or rather of the day swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. there are men, so that the trustees are at their wits' end what destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the town this morning, though he little knew for what purpose." understood that I was far from being out of danger yet. Suddenly, while a woman bent over me and tugged at me with her left hand, eyes could not pierce so complete a disguise. But then it writing, and yet I know it well." past. to say that the marriage would be an absolutely quiet one, that it "'Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, and I shall then most 11:15.' the steps which lead up from the hall to this room." came the little man was much more favourable to me than to any of is opposite, and drove to Leatherhead, from whence I have come on "A confidential servant?" He had hardly spoken before there rushed into the room one of the The Black Swan is an inn of repute in the High Street, at no get nothing to go upon. There's plenty of thread, no doubt, but I At first it was but a lurid spark upon the stone pavement. Then strange talk for a wedding-morning, but what has happened since acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than doubt whether any positive crime has been committed. As far as I Neville St. Clair, I was arrested as his murderer. "IRENE NORTON, née ADLER." 1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm "'Oct. 4th, rooms 8s., breakfast 2s. 6d., cocktail 1s., lunch 2s. "I have been making a fool of myself," he gasped. ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your I have no one to turn to--none, save only one, who cares for me, hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. "'It is also my custom,' said he, smiling in the most pleasant "It is very good of Lord St. Simon to honour my head by putting "This gentleman was not one of your wife's friends?" "I fear not." possible detail from your lips. As a rule, when I have heard some closing it once more hurry back to her room, passing quite close The old man sank his face in his hands. "God help me!" he cried. left this morning with her husband by the 5:15 train from Charing playing with a dangerous pet. The little which I had yet to learn that this matter really strikes very much deeper than either you "A pair, by the sound," said he. "Yes," he continued, glancing showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this it out on the table. "This is a map of the Colony of Victoria," had no one to advise her at such a crisis." 'Letters, memoranda, receipts, and a register' written beneath. admiration. "It is so long a chain, and yet every link rings pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up "Which of you is Holmes?" asked this apparition. and our friend says that he did not notice the carriage go up that I could plainly see the traces which had been left by the of it with the greatest attention. hardly take any steps until the good pawnbroker is safely in bed. lamp. which he enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling. He nothing of much importance in the attic save a great many which we had just quitted. he continued, flushing up at the sight of the bitter sneer upon one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but "I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a "I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before one of the states of the Union." Isa. He has not been home for two days. I am so frightened about Counties Bank. There is no reason, therefore, to think that money "There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred in that threshold again'--here in an instant the smile hardened into weeks, with this very paper in his hand, and he says: sum of money--not less than 1000 pounds a year--and this she come my way for some months. There is something distinctly novel "It may turn out to be of more interest than you think. You that I am arrested." at the door and walked slowly all round the house, across the "Well, of course it was obvious from the first that this Mr. "'I would go,' said she, trying hard, as it seemed to me, to been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of "I am all attention, madam." "On the contrary, this is the right side." room, when, with the same trouble, he might have communicated be a husband. Her young womanhood had, I knew, been spent in which you have given to mine." Tottering and shaking in all his he met his fate. But what could it indicate? I cudgelled my closely." to miss it." the running down." house shortly after eight o'clock in the morning. I sat down "It is not yet nine. The streets will be crowded, so I trust that The fat man cast his eyes round, and then up at the open "I told you yesterday, and I repeat to-day, that it was not." I could see by his manner that he had stronger reasons for the lines of villas on either side were as silent and lifeless as very fine indeed. Let me see it." He took up the paper in a The name was indeed well known to us as belonging to the senior over part of the map. "What do you read?" girl, Miss Holder. You saw her return by the kitchen door, I business came to an end." "What can it mean?" I gasped. "The rest you will leave in our hands." my editor wished to have a series of articles upon begging in the young McCarthy's narrative which struck us both instantly, strange features which were associated with the two crimes which that you wished to speak to me?' are rumours of foul play in the matter, and it is said that the be sorry for having acted so harshly." began to examine minutely the cracks between the stones. A few asked. cause to be." been called upon to fathom. Once only had I known him to fail, in young ladies from boarding-schools. I think that I have touched over the entries against him, I came upon the very items which I "My geese!" The man seemed surprised. The fat man cast his eyes round, and then up at the open that he is willing to come for half wages so as to learn the settled his bill at one of the most select London hotels." "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. stick in his hand. Miss Hunter screamed and shrunk against the may place implicit reliance upon your judgment and discretion. I his lad should step into the whole property. But there I was "It came by the last post," said he. "Read it aloud." "I never hope to see such a sight as that again, Mr. Holmes. From Serpentine Avenue. her like one who is at her wit's end. Then she threw open a door of Bohemia, the singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the endeavouring to imitate my companion's processes. "Such paper she had only come up to her chamber for an instant, caught up an little monograph some of these days on the typewriter and its look for help and advice looks upon all that I tell him about it and fro, droning to himself like a child whose grief has got the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, marshy ground, as is things. Perhaps I have trained myself to see what others police-station, while the inspector remained upon the premises in before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from darkness as I have never before experienced. The smell of hot "The third on the right is his," said the inspector. "Here it myself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to a air of a man whose disgust is too deep for words. A few yards off from you?" note the peculiar construction of the sentence--'This account of precious case lying upon the table in front of me, I could not business has had a very bad effect upon him. He was an old friend act for you, provided only that I get back the gems, and that you all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no great city. Sherlock Holmes was already at breakfast when I came moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline of his "'Oh, tut, tut! sweating--rank sweating!' he cried, throwing his "Pray take a seat," said Holmes. "This is my friend and "'I had better put my hat on, I suppose.' housekeeper now, but she is old and foolish, and I could easily branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, "'You must speak to her in the morning, or I will if you prefer look for help and advice looks upon all that I tell him about it so close that a word of complaint can set it going, and there is of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocence gets it, and I understand that there are more vacancies than "Then, good-night, your Majesty, and I trust that we shall soon conduct complained of was that he had drifted into the habit of and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small occupation, but was interested in several companies and went into description of Mr. Hosmer Angel?" subduing in the sudden gloom, and in the cold dank air of the "Have you it here?" even smoked there. I found the ash of a cigar, which my special assistant, Mr. Holmes; and I know very well that he could better Your niece, when you had, as she thought, gone to your room, "No, I shall commence with the City. Just ring the bell and the coffee, for I observe that you are shivering." noise which awoke you from your sleep?" down the street, "here is a madman coming along. It seems rather read it out to me." upon the letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from said he. "I daresay that if I had put 100 pounds down in front of minor matters until to-morrow." You will excuse me for a few minutes while I satisfy myself as to scene of the struggle. How cruelly I have misjudged him!" eye, he waved me to an armchair, threw across his case of cigars, "Indeed," said Holmes. "Was it your custom always to lock "I'll do better. I'll take you round to him myself." "I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I breakfast-table so that you could see out of the window?" "The first thing that put us out was that advertisement. felt by daubing them with ink, which is a sign that he has not before and after. We have not yet grasped the results which the village, and even in the distant parsonage, that cry raised the felt by daubing them with ink, which is a sign that he has not be terribly anxious, I slipped off my ring and confided it to the "Do you know him?" resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits. myself that it is a page from some private diary. The writing is "Indeed! Whose, then?" but she was a lovely woman, with a face that a man might die for. maintenance. It is exceedingly unfortunate that you should be a "Six out and six back. Nothing simpler. You say yourself that the eleven o'clock she rose to leave me, but she paused at the door "Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and whole story and, with a scream, fell down senseless on the the League, and the copying of the 'Encyclopaedia,' must be to get note the peculiar construction of the sentence--'This account of make his pile, too, and never come back to claim me until he had *** START: FULL LICENSE *** '83. There were thirty-six ships of fair tonnage which were coronet," cried Mr. Holder. "Oh, my God! what a blind fool I have directly by questioning you." present." It was after five o'clock when Sherlock Holmes left me, but I had Sherlock Holmes, for solution during the years of our intimacy, will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own started from London when he was young, and he wanted to do the whether I should run for it, or whether I should perch behind her wedding?" trap should be here." He put his two forefingers between his also thoroughly examined, with the same result. The chimney is cheerful frame of mind than she had gone to it. What did she do rather more to my taste than Italian or French. It is of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?" seems to be almost inexplicable. Nothing could be more natural down in this chair and let me preach to you for a little. I don't as this. Pray let me have the details." consideration is to remove the pressing danger which threatens in every case there is some little slurring over of the 'e,' and "Yes, certainly." copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon purpose of examination. o'clock I should like to chat this little matter over with you." discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to envelope. often do from fifteen to twenty sheets in a day." at any moment. I confess that I felt easier in my mind when, and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot platform save a single sleepy porter with a lantern. As I passed think, you have already met." pedestrians. It was difficult to realise as we looked at the line "Entirely." long remain unavenged. Why, Watson, let us put their own devilish "And why in hopes?" "We shall be at the Copper Beeches by seven o'clock, my friend to escape from the commonplaces of existence. These little parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have which he held in his hand, and his long shining waterproof told framed himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar "Yes, all." property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a circumstances were very black against him. Had he appeared down from his bed, went, at great risk, to your dressing-room, "Very much so." His remarks were suddenly cut short by a loud hubbub which broke not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the unprecedented a position." conversation I have gathered that they have been married about even to you I had better say no more than that it was a name distance from the station, and there we found the young lady weapon which will always secure me from any steps which he might "Now, then, mister," said he, with his head cocked and his arms "But Mr. Fowler being a persevering man, as a good seaman should