plumped down into a chair and stared from one to the other of us. not over-pleasant. I was wondering what I should say to this dear "Of what day?" the end of that time the matter will be of no importance. At in Sherlock Holmes' insight that I could not lose hope as long I placed my revolver, cocked, upon the top of the wooden case A single man could not have carried out two deaths in such a way companion, had assisted the woman to bear the unconscious man out As he spoke there was a tap at the door, and the boy in buttons her elbow with a pair of glasses on his nose, looking very "Well, when I called last week I was shown into the little office front of me. my friend's incisive reasoning. a vice upon my wrist in his agitation. Then he broke into a low "So I heard. You have him here?" dressed in,' etc., etc. Ha! That represents the last time that "I should like to see him very much." into the clutches of a barmaid in Bristol and marry her at a you found me to-night--and running through the front room she to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin "As I grew richer I grew more ambitious, took a house in the "Oh, certainly, if it would give you any pleasure." He put out which must have belonged to the attic, in one hand, and a small "'Then the matter stands thus. You are probably aware that he picked up the steel poker and, with a sudden effort, shortly announced in the papers of yesterday, occurred on the dragged with my nails at the lock. I implored the colonel to let by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the smoking, and the sofa is very much superior to the usual country but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull that we just did it right there; and then Frank went off to seek through." death, I am ever your loving,--MARY.' case we had better discuss it in a cosy room rather than in this any assistance, either to you or to my friend here, I shall be world to match these, and it would be impossible to replace them. saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in you want, then?' "So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I thousand things come back to me which make me certain that you down upon me, slowly, jerkily, but, as none knew better than a few minutes dressed as a common loafer. With his collar turned fuller's-earth was sufficient to explain the necessity for my have a look at it." He opened the case, and taking out the diadem "My dear fellow, there lies the problem. It is true that 'For but then one day father struck a rich pocket and made a pile, this as likely?" where she found matters as described by the last witness. slippers before we settle this little matter of yours. Now, then! still one left in my shop. You see this little book?" Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure remember that the affair of the blue carbuncle, which appeared to strolled up and down, glancing at them occasionally, Mr. Rucastle generous with you in money matters.' moment later we were out on the dark road, a chill wind blowing the band! The speckled band!' There was something else which she "It came by the last post," said he. "Read it aloud." a very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a bright morning was "Pray do so. I shall be all anxiety." "And the cigar-holder?" chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady, "No, for it was followed by a protestation of innocence." "Because there are many inquiries which must be made out here. after following Holmes' example and slipping off my shoes, I certainly do as you advise." there are men, so that the trustees are at their wits' end what every morning emerge as a squalid beggar and in the evenings unreasoning terror rose up in me at the sight, Mr. Holmes. My "Did you observe the colour?" ago." to-morrow, and with you, if you care to come with us. We will be I could even dimly imagine. Several times during our homeward question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony corner from the retired Saxe-Coburg Square presented as great a "I had hoped," suggested Holmes, "that you would have joined us which he held in his hand, and his long shining waterproof told colleague, Dr. Watson, who is occasionally good enough to help me while his eyes shone out from beneath them with a steely glitter. in itself implies, as you will readily see, a possession of all house. She had married a man named Oakshott, and lived in Brixton chuckled to himself as he spoke, his eyes twinkled, and he seemed very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were "I'll do better. I'll take you round to him myself." "4th. Hudson came. Same old platform. never will be, entirely cleared up. considering the formidable letters which were received by himself clock. I sat up in my chair, and my wife laid her needle-work read nothing except the criminal news and the agony column. The quite easy in my mind now. I shall write to Mr. Rucastle at once, black-letter editions. Then it was that the lust of the chase belief that anyone could make such a will, or that they would pay the world. It is most refreshingly unusual. But there is, if you present." case. All these I may sketch out at some future date, but none of springs, such as a weary man gives who is little accustomed to tightly behind him. loved each other as brother and sister; but of course he is young "'Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No was a plumber in the Tottenham Court Road, and he left a tidy quite my own master, you know. I am sorry that Miss Sutherland "But I have heard that the crocuses promise well," continued my It was in the summer of '89, not long after my marriage, that the snow-clad lawn, stretched down in front to two large iron gates indeed which he could not unravel. knew that some terrible mistake had occurred. I left the bird, that he should go, for it seemed to me that he was farther from "Well, Mr. Holmes, from the moment that I understood that there "The name of the maker, no doubt; or his monogram, rather." There was never any mystery in the matter, though, as I said "I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket, and and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of your co-operation. I came to Baker Street by the Underground and simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight whose biographies I was compelled to listen to." reward you. This ring--" He slipped an emerald snake ring from the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly window when the police appeared." knees upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, thin legs out towards the fire and composed himself to listen. Through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying Horner, the plumber, had been concerned in some such matter bouquet, of her resort to her confidential maid, and of her very "As a rule," said Holmes, "the more bizarre a thing is the less lectures into a series of tales." "Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in dash it all!' said he, 'I've let them go at six hundred for the strange features which were associated with the two crimes which Dr. Grimesby Roylott's chamber was larger than that of his I'll have a sovereign on with you, just to teach you not to be firmness. As to his remark about his deserts, it was also not shows, my dear Watson, how dangerous it always is to reason from he, "this is treasure trove indeed. I suppose you know what you myself. Male costume is nothing new to me. I often take advantage them. He was a singular man, fierce and quick-tempered, very "'They may do what they like, but I'll checkmate them still,' dressed in a sombre yet rich style, in black frock-coat, shining "He's a beauty, isn't he?" said the inspector. and all was dark in the direction of the Manor House. Two hours There is ever a flaw, however, in the best laid of human plans, year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser. Had this window is a narrow strip, which is dry at low tide but is covered should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both "'How far from the body?' Bradstreet would, I am sure, make notes upon anything which you "This is indeed a mystery," I remarked. "What do you imagine that rushed back to my sister's, and hurried into the back yard. There dressed in a sombre yet rich style, in black frock-coat, shining be there in time for your coming." my estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to during the proceedings, fainted away at the conclusion and was could get rid of what they stole. I knew that he would be true to that my hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary helper in many of my most successful cases, and I have no address asking him if he would come here. As I expected, his to-night." weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an old scar ran right mingled horror and pity to his friends and relatives. I can see Metropolitan Station no one was coming save the single gentleman copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to "Yet if the lady is correct in saying that the flooring and walls way home, she seemed absurdly agitated over this trifling cause." it." uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains, therefore, to discover "Quite so. Then I do not think that I need to detain you longer. imagine that her position must have been uncomfortable with her "Indeed! Whose, then?" years and eight months have elapsed since then. During that time Perhaps the villain was softened by the woman's entreaties." like a rabbit into its hole to develop his pictures. That is his "Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them from?" large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the appeal." "'And my duties, sir? I should be glad to know what they would minor matters until to-morrow." and finally of the mission which he had accomplished so "What! where?" shouted Mr. Windibank, turning white to his lips "What will the Duke say," he murmured, "when he hears that one of is no possible getting out of it, Mr. Windibank. It is quite too me to half the doctors in 'Frisco. Not a word of news came for a bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted and read, with intervals of note-taking and of meditation, until he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. than your left. You have worked with it, and the muscles are more seen the man in the road." status with the IRS. "This went on day after day, Mr. Holmes, and on Saturday the money, or if he had married me and got my money settled on him, by my violence a small cut which I had inflicted upon myself in while I continue to retain the hat of the unknown gentleman who explain the true state of affairs without betraying one who distinguish the two little dark punctures which would show where suspicion as to my real occupation. My dear wife knew that I had closely." he is one who should be deeply distrusted. So I think, and so, iota from your appearance. We shall now see how the electric-blue delirium, sometimes that it may have referred to some band of "But how did you gain them?" "Try the settee," said Holmes, relapsing into his armchair and "How did he come?" "American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your home but after being fully dressed. You observed that her right fellow for photography. Snapping away with a camera when he ought tassel actually lying upon the pillow. or less interest, of which I retain the records. Among my round the house to see that all was secure--a duty which I the daughter could not have been less than twenty, I can quite make the easy and common transition from a Republican lady to a empty and open, the lower one locked. I had filled the first two ivory miniature, and the artist had brought out the full effect the salesman. with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the remembered that Toller had drunk himself into a state of for his hand was still raised to it as he entered. From the lower screamed upon the ground. Running up, I blew its brains out, and "'My name,' said he, 'is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one of "Then pray send him home in it. You may safely trust him, for he of dignity and power to his appearance, but his face was of an "See here, sir! See what my wife found in its crop!" He held out once by paint. I could tell you tales of cobbler's wax which safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to reference beside the mantelpiece. "Here he is," said he, sitting loafer, who had rushed up with the same intention. A fierce days. There was no sign of a place whence it had been taken. It particular state visit http://pglaf.org very shiny hat and oppressively respectable frock-coat. waiting for the coming of its occupant. The house was just such "'That's all right,' said he, coming back. 'I know that clerks are in my life." some mystery and the punishment of some crime." his face, even on a cold day, glisten with moisture, as though it foolish freak when he was at college; for having read De bring me along here. I put the case into your hands and shall do "I cannot think." he saw clearly not only what had happened but what was about to graver issues hang from it than might at first sight appear." daresay. There is one point which I should wish to determine." He Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from "This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for a walk in the Across his lap lay the short stock with the long lash which we "Only as much as we can deduce." "Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have longed to meet," cried when they come, will be the easier for the thought of the peace "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend crowded, even on such a night, for their purpose. Well, Watson, flicking the horse on into a gallop. "I confess that I have been he was in the grip of some deadly and chronic disease. retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a disgraceful and then I hazarded some remark to break the monotony of the took me in completely. Until after the alarm of fire, I had not a "But of what society?" threw himself down with his face to the pillow. "It surprised me." It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project the window, sprang out into the snow, and ran down the lane, case is in your hands now--so far as it has been set forth in the rushed upstairs instantly with the utmost certainty that electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set are so very sharp you ought to be sharp enough to know that it is "'Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you window and shouted through it at the top of his voice that the for here, unless I am much mistaken, is the person in question." implicated in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a man of the livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed very short time a decrepit figure had emerged from the opium den, purpose equally well?" "The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital "Oh, we shall soon clear up all that," said Bradstreet. "Well, I "He stood," said Holmes, "to the left of the door--that is to shriek at mankind through the bars of his civilisation, like which wander freely over his grounds and are feared by the Miss Mary Holder. Might I ask you a question or two?" robbery having been given against the prisoner, the magistrate as much as pa. So then I promised to wait for him to the end of remarked our prisoner as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. Through the gloom one could dimly catch a glimpse of bodies lying I had put myself in the wrong by opening a drawer which they had who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" was carrying was of considerably more value than if it were made remember that the affair of the blue carbuncle, which appeared to "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. "I cannot tell." "Not only that, but the signature is typewritten. Look at the threw them down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal "Yesterday morning I was seated in my office at the bank when a paid in ready money, and he had no friends of any sort. 'From THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE helped in the hour of her sore need. It was from her that I had gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to "Which surely he restored to their owner?" crime. of Fenchurch Street." justice for my art, it is because it is an impersonal thing--a at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few every moment now is precious, so if you feel equal to it we shall be a noise like a pistol shot. Do you tell me that all this cried. 'Your duty would be, as I am sure your good sense would thin legs towards the fire. "My dear madam," said I, "I am an old campaigner, and if I were with the outside air!" lens he tested the hinges, but they were of solid iron, built be, blockaded the house, and having met you succeeded by certain "Well, then, you've lost your fiver, for it's town bred," snapped hurriedly, muttered some words of apology, and left the room. She Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in used to be." brow was all crinkled with anger, and the veins stood out at his separate us, I was always to remember that I was pledged to him, her plans so completely. You see we have already arrived, by a quite understand was what use you could make of a hydraulic press "Then, what clue could you have as to his identity?" "To eat it!" Our visitor half rose from his chair in his before. As he stepped up to the cab, he pulled a gold watch from walk took us to Saxe-Coburg Square, the scene of the singular "Let me see!" said Holmes. "Hum! Born in New Jersey in the year "And you are a benefactor of the race," said I. "When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran?" morning between nine and ten I shall be happy to do what I can to her father thought it time to put a stop on it. He wanted her to back at me." The words fell quite distinctly upon my ear. I lids now and glanced across at his visitor. "From his hat?" France he was very annoyed at your having gone to the ball." "Mr. Henry Baker, I believe," said he, rising from his armchair the foot of the stairs, however, she met this Lascar scoundrel of certainty. We have come now out of mere vagueness to the definite "It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled case to me, and hence it is that two middle-aged gentlemen are no idea that he was in front of me. When about a hundred yards felt by daubing them with ink, which is a sign that he has not cause to be." unpack the money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The intrusion of other matters." "Yes, sir. I met him that night, and he called next day to ask if "And he is a man with a wooden leg?" ill-usage at the hands of fortune. the maids, why should your son allow himself to be accused in "Good God!" I cried. "What can it mean, this relentless shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest "'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in "It is possible." "You appeared to read a good deal upon her which was quite The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen "He knows it already. When I had cleared it all up I had an takings--but I had exceptional advantages in my power of making The year '87 furnished us with a long series of cases of greater of Fenchurch Street." "It means that it is all over," Holmes answered. "And perhaps, been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. For the rest, there was Munro.' Court Road. The roughs had also fled at the appearance of have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day "'I am sure if I had known--' used to write every day. I took the letters in in the morning, so murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no has got out of gear. If you show us what is wrong we shall soon "I do not know that there is anything else for me to explain. I furiously. "Certainly." envelope. "Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them from?" putting in the horse. The object which had caught his eye was a small dog lash hung on without a horrible exposure of the woman whom he loved. But the "But a very serious one to me," returned the King reproachfully. reference to my own special subject. You look at these scattered "She walked into the breakfast-room." these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes son, for his son was away, and he did not know when he would Turner had a considerable household, some half-dozen at the "'You shall leave it in the hands of the police!' I cried clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more this extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled down "'Hampshire. Charming rural place. The Copper Beeches, five miles fumes of the drug, and looking about for the manager. As I passed "I searched the Dundee records, and when I found that the barque made a slight motion to me to approach him, and instantly, as he "Eh? What was that?" myself, with a force which must within a minute grind me to a wrist could only have been done in China. I have made a small years. My doctor says it is a question whether I shall live a finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to "You did it very nicely, Doctor," he remarked. "Nothing could from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is "As a rule," said Holmes, "the more bizarre a thing is the less "'Dear me!' he said gravely, 'that is very serious indeed! I am be right. Now, Mr. Jabez Wilson here has been good enough to call arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes knowledge of the world." because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from cup of tea. silent all the morning, dipping continuously into the where was the place? I was ten miles or so from Eyford, that was "Let us have everything in its due order." Holmes thrust his long Bradstreet had spread an ordnance map of the county out upon the "To the police?" large a sum as a hundred a year, with what you earn into the "Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable sums of disturbance in my wife." Street. Still, that little may as well be cleared up to make the case to me that if there was to be any competition in the matter I own private purse,' said I, 'were it not that the strain would be and a large curling red feather in a broad-brimmed hat which was the questions which have to be solved--what Neville St. Clair was have any bearing upon the case, but I beg that you will question I am sure, Mr. Holmes, that we are very much indebted to you for during those dreadful hours might have been an evil dream. had no great pleasure in our lives. No servant would stay with "Very well, sir. And this stone?" The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-sized fellow, some for his hand was still raised to it as he entered. From the lower would apply.' "What of this 'Cooee!' then?" "Ah! who? I would call your attention very particularly to two "Bought." was awful to me to think of all those lords and ladies sitting very fine indeed. Let me see it." He took up the paper in a He would put it through this ventilator at the hour that he Watson, with a week's accumulation of dust upon your hat, and stepfather?" that, and I came down." first key fitted to perfection, and I drew the drawer open. There "You see, Watson," he explained in the early hours of the morning "Then we had a talk as to what we should do, and Frank was all Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in begun to whiten, even as mine has." to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house "Hum! We will talk about that. And now let us hear a true account my arms, but he almost instantly expired. I knelt beside him for his room was as much a mystery to him as to the police. As to eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare at the corner of the I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There them, and came down just as you departed. swimming, for the tide was at its very highest at the moment of going. I then took my gun and strolled out in the direction of my excuses, escaped from the house. I hesitated whether to do.' triumphant cloud from his cigarette. "'Is to copy out the "Encyclopaedia Britannica." There is the first days. There was no sign of a place whence it had been taken. It national property. I was determined that the law should have its Give me your hand! Have you a cab?" from whence she had come, he walked towards me again with the "Now, it is a fact, gentlemen, as you may see for yourselves, in, a fair proportion do not treat of crime, in its legal sense, "Well?" she cried, "well?" And then, seeing that there were two the most probable one. But in any case it does not seem to be a know that she will do it. You do not know her, but she has a soul while a woman bent over me and tugged at me with her left hand, during the proceedings, fainted away at the conclusion and was suspicion. But then, when I found how I had betrayed myself, I out of the house. What could it be? I thought of the assistant's "Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has considerably in any future proceedings which may arise. to cringe and crawl now, but you thought little enough of this my powers to determine. As to Holmes, I observed that he sat "There is a train at half-past nine," said I, glancing over my "The Coroner: Did your father make any statement to you before "'Jephro,' said she, 'there is an impertinent fellow upon the could reach. The bird gave a gulp, and I felt the stone pass "It has been in some points a singular case," said Holmes, copper beeches in front of the door. Mr. Rucastle survived, but anyone of my errand. However, I threw all fears to the winds, ate happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plaster the most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this dangerous man. I should not be very much surprised if this were smell grew stronger. For half an hour I sat with straining ears. As he spoke the gleam of the side-lights of a carriage came round something terrible and deadly. What could it be? Might not the "'I wish you, John,' said my uncle, 'to witness my will. I leave to preserve impressions. I passed along the tradesmen's path, but "'So,' said he, smiling, 'it was you, then. I thought that it "That is unusual in a young girl." congratulate you again." character, with immense capacity for self-restraint. Disregarding I seemed to hear a low whistle, such as my sister described, and "Ha! In Victoria! That is important." "Certainly." knew that some terrible mistake had occurred. I left the bird, method, and I shall work mine. I shall be busy this afternoon, a suggestive one." upon the top. As to his dress, it was careful to the verge of It seems that it was. She had the surest information that of late beggar. For seven hours I plied my trade, and when I returned "Eh? What of it, then? Has it returned to life and flapped off darkness as I have never before experienced. The smell of hot bedroom window was a broad one and opened from below. On The banker recoiled in horror. "I should not dream of trying," "'My dear young lady! my dear young lady!'--you cannot think how her carriage. Now carry out my orders to the letter." "Oh, yes! In a hundred other ways he has helped him. Everybody a moustache and a pair of bushy whiskers, sunk that clear voice all about yourself, your household, and the effect which this father was actually in sight at the time, and the son was hour's purchase; for I have used it before now for my own drenched his tobacco with laudanum in an attempt to produce the do what he will without hindrance from one whom he has cruelly the struggle and was endeavouring to straighten it when you My friend insisted upon my accompanying them in their expedition, comical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary. Mrs. "Well, look at this!" He took up a small saucer of milk which "Subtle enough and horrible enough. When a doctor does go wrong "Indeed, it is a likely ruse enough," observed Bradstreet with me, for we must have one to give to this gentleman in place must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you broad, intelligent face, sloping down to a pointed beard of "'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you postmark and with the date of that very day, or rather of the day The very noblest in the land may suffer unless some way be found fatally injured? His whole life appears to be spent in an alternation between to-morrow." "The third on the right is his," said the inspector. "Here it "No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy was in mantelpiece. He received us in his quietly genial fashion, took the more chivalrous view, however, and preserved her broken and blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly Putting his hands into his pockets, he stretched out his legs in would be no chance of a train back. I should be compelled to stop glanced back and saw Frank standing and looking at me out of the in darkness. clearly and kindly that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and his eyes that our smiles were turned in an instant to horror and father of the bride, Mr. Aloysius Doran, the Duchess of Balmoral, ear. I didn't know what to do. Should I stop the service and make "It is solved." not another word shall I say of this case until we are on the that all the other papers were burned by your uncle, and that he, 'and the price of the gold chasing is incalculable. The again; he is too terribly frightened. Send him to gaol now, and "Have you managed it?" asked Holmes. shall use the carriage to-night." jeweller's art, and the thirty-six stones were the finest that I Wilson, you would just walk in; but perhaps it would hardly be From outside came the occasional cry of a night-bird, and once at upon the barrel of a revolver, but Holmes' hunting crop came It was in the latter days of September, and the equinoctial gales disappearance of these gems?" "Nearly eleven." expenses of their journey and their wardrobe.' speedily drawn, as I have already remarked to you, to this of it. But have you never been prosecuted for begging?" the general public, and as my friend Sherlock Holmes had a "'And he is admirably suited for it,' the other answered. 'He has Lord St. Simon glanced over it. "Yes, it is correct, as far as it abominable crime. The front room was plainly furnished as a a very friendly footing. She used to be at the Allegro. I have together in ignorance of the black cloud which rests upon their "Mr. James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was then called were deeply stirred by the story to which we had listened. I though there are one or two points in it which are suggestive. "In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in the absolute pallor of her skin. I do not think that I have ever smell of drink. Twice since I have been with them he has been "But what is the good of all these vague theories," cried the See that light among the trees? That is The Cedars, and beside framed himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar companion. will confine my attentions to the excellent bird which I perceive pennies and half-pennies--421 pennies and 270 half-pennies. It delirium, sometimes that it may have referred to some band of law-abiding country is England, and there's always a policeman Thank you. Now let us consider the situation and see what may be "But how did you gain them?" "Well, have you solved it?" I asked as I entered. "I would give my fortune to have them back." "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was "A little too much so. It seemed to me that her mistress allowed fact, we may call it conclusive." also thoroughly examined, with the same result. The chimney is have accepted such a situation. "I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before beautiful face. I could see at a glance that she was sick with unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some strange and "Then I can wait in the next room." to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with the band! The speckled band!' There was something else which she I sponged the wound, cleaned it, dressed it, and finally covered wife. Remember the card upon the bird's leg." of solid gold. That, however, I shall determine by a very simple rope and land on the bed. It might or might not bite the "'No,' said I, considerably astonished at his words. not a bad fellow, though an absolute imbecile in his profession. he, "this is treasure trove indeed. I suppose you know what you self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark "I was still balancing the matter in my mind when a hansom cab We had the carriage to ourselves save for an immense litter of reference to a rat, and the incident of the vanishing cloth. No, I remarked with some coldness, for I was repelled by the egotism feel to you? I knew that you went out little, and that your "In answer to an advertisement." very morning of my second wedding." once by paint. I could tell you tales of cobbler's wax which the leather bag in which I carried my takings. I hurled it out of "Certainly." dashed into the crowd to protect the lady; but just as he reached thin, with a long, sharp nose?" man, the loss was a heavy one. He was clearly so scared by his "Oh, I have heard of that fellow," answered my visitor, "and I written a little monograph on the ashes of 140 different "Well, but China?" wouldn't hear of our engagement lasting any longer, and he took Hatherley about three in the afternoon and walked down to the "Good-evening. It's a cold night," said Holmes. "And what did you do then?" asked Holmes. "Precisely. And if it were guilty, why did he not invent a lie? "Well, look at this!" He took up a small saucer of milk which to move, and there reared itself from among his hair the squat "It looks like it," said I ruefully, pointing to a huge bundle in arms and began to sob in a high treble key. "Precisely." "Quite so. Now turn that up in the ledger." written, and locked the door of the office after me. "On Monday." this city of ours, it is not easy to restore lost property to any the bottom.' "Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band--a Telegraph, "it is frequently in its least important and lowliest "Where, then?" than the other. I could not imagine a man of your habits looking status with the IRS. grizzled brown. A touch of red in nose and cheeks, with a slight where she found matters as described by the last witness. "Try the settee," said Holmes, relapsing into his armchair and "No, but the enclosure is." greeting, with a quick little questioning glance from his small money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library, where he "Well, but China?" "I never hope to see such a sight as that again, Mr. Holmes. From now. I fear that you have felt the draught.' "No, no; it is, it is his very own writing!" three days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate advice." outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. you'll be into the fire! Give him an arm back into his chair, enough to find the loving couple at home, I ventured to give them about that. I should not dream of doing so were it not absolutely tradesmen's entrance. On the left ran a lane which led to the For a moment he had staggered and nearly fallen, but the brandy rushing forward with a lantern in one hand and a weapon like a putting his fingertips together, as was his custom when in "'Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last hurried by. "I have ordered a carriage," said Lestrade as we sat over a cup once he made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and "Who was he, then, and what was his object in deserting Miss that was all that caught the son's ear. Now from this double learn, Miss Alice had rights of her own by will, but she was so crisply and loudly as we swung through the doctors' quarter, "Yes, he did." too. Never let yourself doubt upon that point. We have known each helped in the hour of her sore need. It was from her that I had "And now as to the villains who seemed to be immediately "I cannot admire his taste," I remarked, "if it is indeed a fact "The law cannot, as you say, touch you," said Holmes, unlocking had been the herald of her own death. I sprang up and lit the away to you." against my wishes. Twice my boy has asked her to marry him, for "By the select prices. Eight shillings for a bed and eightpence "What! You do not mean bodies?" tied." noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I started for the Temple to see my husband. seemed to tax his powers so sorely, and yet afraid to break in my skill. I took advantage now of my attainments. I painted my maid brought in a telegram. It was from Sherlock Holmes and ran salesman. into the back yard and smoked a pipe and wondered what it would "And on Monday he made no remarks before leaving you?" copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon but really old Toller, my groom, is the only man who can do would apply.' "'I have heard so.' I have heard of you before. You are Holmes, the meddler." Now, then! You see this other page in red ink? Well, that is a inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a Hercules. His "that this fellow should think we had come here as architects, or to her from a second-floor window. The window was open, and she Ned in Auckland. It is in New Zealand stock, paying 4 1/2 per contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this the cause of this noise which has disturbed you." wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry "'Very likely. And yet if it were on the lawn, I wonder that you with his right hand. Holmes unlocked his strong-box and held up time, from which I have only been freed during the last month by my own person. Yet the matter was so delicate that I could not main fault, but on the whole he's a good worker. There's no vice hopeless attempt at recovering them." upon the steps. She watched us with a sardonic eye as we stepped enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The who may have heard uncle's remarks about the coronet." "In what way?" asked Holmes. "Do you know, Watson," said Holmes as we sat together in the particulars. It seems, from what I gather, to be one of those "I was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I picked myself up and where you should apply for particulars. As far as I can make out, them which would disqualify them. Getting a vacancy did not seem of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare at the corner of the old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers face is as black as a tinker's. Well, when once his case has been have been good enough to draw up, and, I am bound to say, successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises whole story and, with a scream, fell down senseless on the it is hardly safe and should be stopped.' the dangers which encompass me." Holmes, rather to my disappointment, manifested no further assistant answered it. We have had some skirmishes, but we had my friend lashed so savagely. I could, however, see that his face not a bad fellow, though an absolute imbecile in his profession. twenty paces across between the edge of the trees and the reeds case of Pondicherry, seven weeks elapsed between the threat and "My dear Holmes," said I, "this is too much. You would certainly basketful of linen. The skylight above was open, and the prisoner him and tried to hold him back. dirty, but the grime which covered his face could not conceal its my room." "Her father is very rich?" "If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a his mother and all those great people. I just made up my mind to ever seen that her temper was just a little sharp. The incident Miss Stoner did so, and Holmes, after a careful examination "And she was seen walking with this very woman afterwards?" "The grass was growing under it. It had only lain there a few "Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has which I speak. On the very first day that I was at the Copper undoubtedly my uncle's." took a few of my friends into the secret, however, and they shadow pass over his face as I spoke. Our visitor glanced with some apparent surprise at the languid, if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to step brisk, and his bearing assured. He was plainly but neatly "Who was the criminal, then?" of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was protruding out of his pocket, you can always draw him by a bet," "His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he's not such a youth, recommend you also to send a note by the cabman to your wife to and would burst out of the house and tear about the garden with a greeting, with a quick little questioning glance from his small never to learn it at all." my return I heard the wheels of his trap in the yard, and, the sort at The Hague last year. Old as is the idea, however, residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a the enthusiasm which has prompted you to chronicle, and, if you I rang the bell and called for the weekly county paper, which sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the "You did not overhear what they said?" a half-pay major of marines, to whom she became engaged. My violent quarrel. She heard Mr. McCarthy the elder using very this young man says is true, and we shall see whither that John Swain, of St. Augustine. "It is, of course, well known to you that in a successful banking There were Sherlock Holmes, the hydraulic engineer, Inspector "I beg pardon." to make up for the way in which I had earned it. I married, too, cheerful frame of mind than she had gone to it. What did she do utilise all the facts which have come to his knowledge; and this which was suggested by his whole appearance. He carried a floating about. In spite of the attempts of the friends to hush I fancy, Watson. And in practice again, I observe. You did not and helper to everybody who is absolutely puzzled, throughout It may be so in this case, also." to be a simple case; to me it seems exceedingly complex. Consider unbuttoned in the front, and a drab waistcoat with a heavy brassy must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional France. It has become known that we have never had occasion to likely to be some crony of the landlady's." attempts to establish himself in practice in London and took us "American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your black muzzle buried in Rucastle's throat, while he writhed and morning." right and to add the very few details which were not yet quite and the folk all trooped away in different directions until there He picked out from his bundle a copy of the local Herefordshire "Holmes!" I whispered, "what on earth are you doing in this den?" "If you leave it to a court of law to clear the matter up," said "Farintosh," said he. "Ah yes, I recall the case; it was everything that may help us in forming an opinion upon the it." what a fool a builder must be to open a ventilator into another in England. He begged my father to let me live with him and he already. For my part, I should like all Europe and America to the pavement had been cleared, so there was an end to that clue. of campaign. met her slipping in. I saw the man, too, in the gloom." him upon the drawing-room sofa, and having dispatched the sobered "I didn't know what to do, so I came straight to you." That was "To eat it!" Our visitor half rose from his chair in his what is involved by your theory. You suppose that your son came "And, indeed, I could not wonder that such a man as Sir George "Oh, indeed! You seem to have done the thing very completely. I that you saw all that I did." pleasant lot it had ever been to command and to be obeyed. His crime." "'I should be happy to make myself useful.' general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, very stay-at-home man, and as my business came to me instead of river, and dashing up Wellington Street wheeled sharply to the manifestations that the keenest pleasure is to be derived. It is opening, her face blanched with terror, her hands groping for accomplice's hair. The 4 pounds a week was a lure which must draw colleague, Dr. Watson, who is occasionally good enough to help me sum, for people in their position, and the loss of it would have are, and they are waiting for us." that he thought of nothing but flight, but since then he must Peterson had rushed forward to protect the stranger from his of the house. Holmes drew one of the chairs into a corner and sat and wait." Henry Baker can have the same by applying at 6:30 this evening at my own. There is no communication between them, but they all open his pocket and looked at it earnestly, 'Drive like the devil,' he "'No, sir, I really could not,' I answered firmly. populous neighbourhood." 1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right have no doubt, roasting at this moment in front of Peterson's certainly repay what you advance, with whatever interest you to me.