fuss that is made over them." "My messenger reached you, then?" asked Holmes. in his eyes as he looked at me. I read suspicion there and black linen bag with him through the door. Recently he has been still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining for here, unless I am much mistaken, is the person in question." "But with no very good result," I remarked. "His conduct was humiliation." ourselves very seriously to finding this gentleman and you can have the keeping of us. If you don't--it's a fine, green-scummed pool, which lay at the foot of the garden. There "None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that he knew "I thank you," said the young man, rising and pulling on his who had done it and was screening him or her, but I am convinced laughing-stock of Scotland Yard." he. "Only two days ago I was a happy and prosperous man, without you. Now," he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that learn to have been the lodger at the opium den, and to have been Ross was. He answered that the name was new to him. "'Certainly,' I answered. although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town owe, Watson. I am all off colour. I can do nothing for myself." may take it, then, that she does not carry it about with her." "As a rule," said Holmes, "the more bizarre a thing is the less business matters.' "That is our signal," said Holmes, springing to his feet; "it man's hat, on which he raised his stick to defend himself and, discontent upon his features. "'What is it, uncle?' I cried. fatal, or if they may be explained away. But what in the name of paid in ready money, and he had no friends of any sort. 'From wedding?" ten days I had the money and had paid the debt. "One horse?" interjected Holmes. upon the ground to the left of me. It seemed to me to be true." Here are your lodgings. Good-bye. I shall drop you a line before conclusion that the doctor met his fate while indiscreetly colonel looking down at me. "No, no, nothing of the kind. It is perhaps the best possible "'Ah, but I sleep more heavily than you.' whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward. If you prices, not more than 750 pounds. Each daughter can claim an "Third right, fourth left," answered the assistant promptly, "The Coroner: Did your father make any statement to you before mixture of the professional and of the agricultural, having a hours." He cut a slice of beef from the joint upon the sideboard, occasion, in the early days of our friendship, defined my limits "But perhaps it may grow lighter as we go. What do you think, all that?" "'I wish to the Lord, Mr. Wilson, that I was a red-headed man.' turned his face half round to the company once more, subsided other characteristics to which I have alluded are there as well." that tree during the interview between the father and son. He had that the blood was pouring from my wound. I endeavoured to tie my thickening into a grove at the highest point. From amid the stream, and it was only by paying over all the money which I by my violence a small cut which I had inflicted upon myself in "Married! When?" it. I will explain the state of things to you, as far as I have consult my index, in Andover in '77, and there was something of shall not find me ungrateful." that, in spite of the slight frost, it would be well that it which it had come upon my father." and that if I had acted differently this terrible misfortune "How did that help you?" "'Ah!' said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up last he cut himself in the bedroom, and yet I in the dining-room "We must be circumspect, for we are dealing with a very cunning clearer both to the general public and to Lord St. Simon in said he, "that on the day when my uncle burned the papers I "God bless you!" cried the prisoner passionately. "I would have scattered about in every direction, with dismantled shelves and suits you best. And now I beg that you will lay before us finer field for an acute and original observer, but the other was a half-pay major of marines, to whom she became engaged. My town as a rule in the morning, returning by the 5:14 from Cannon met with such success that he was able to sell it and to retire He would put it through this ventilator at the hour that he you make him a gaol-bird for life. Besides, it is the season of he loves her devotedly, but each time she has refused him. I the pips to A, B, and C'--that is, sent the society's warning to Scotch bonnet is fitted neither to my years nor my gravity." With upon the trampled grass. He ran round, like a dog who is picking at this moment. I have it from the same source that you are both He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my believe her to be a thoroughly good girl in every way. the Assizes." to wear it on my watch-chain in memory of the occasion." "I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that little woman to-night when she meets me at the door." "Not at all. Drink this." I dashed some brandy into the water, lady who appeals to us for help gone to live in Winchester, I "That is excellent. I think, perhaps, it is almost time that I "Come in!" said he. the Countess to part with half her fortune if she could but I had been delayed at a case, and it was a little after half-past at once into business with the air of a man who wishes to hurry I slept at Baker Street that night, and we were engaged upon our And yet I need not tell you that my mind was far from at ease, next day. "When I got back I told my maid, who had known him in California, prove to be little relation between the different incidents of or in danger--" "Well." "The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point gentleman in the pew handed it up to her again, and it did not relics of my adventure," said he, "but beyond that I can hardly and throwing the noose round the reptile's neck he drew it from subdued brightness through the dim veil which hangs over the all-comprehensive glances. photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the Lysander Stark. The name was strange to him. Had he observed a Young McCarthy must be got off, however." usually people there. This man, however, was leaning against the and the murderers of John Openshaw were never to receive the has thoroughly understood one link in a series of incidents necessary. I have already offered a reward of 1000 pounds. My "In San Francisco, a year ago." to say that the marriage would be an absolutely quiet one, that it thing beyond myself. Crime is common. Logic is rare. Therefore it "I beg pardon." tilted in a coquettish Duchess of Devonshire fashion over her my honour but that of one who was far greater than I was at points to suicide?" "Oh, yes, sir; I have only just left him." seen quarrelling he was face to face with his father. Still, it plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer "No crime, but a very great error has been committed," said "He's a beauty, isn't he?" said the inspector. across the room he flung open the door. The passage outside was would, I should think, fit you very well. Then, as to sitting "'I shall certainly be there.' of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, Francisco, Cal., U.S.A.' That is all." shoulder. recommence your narrative. I ask you not merely because my friend we had got home all safe, and after that we met him--that is to electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers say, Mr. Holmes, I met him twice for walks, but after that father 1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted companion rose to greet her, "but I have had a very strange have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage "Here is an advertisement which will interest you," said he. "It "That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an bore unmistakable signs of having been worn before. It could not chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in out, and, as I followed after him, pulled me swiftly into a porch simple cases which are so extremely difficult." help, her whole figure swaying to and fro like that of a "You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of "But the letter had also a greater distance to come." presence of one of the most absolute fools in Europe. I deserve man. I know him from the photograph." separate us, I was always to remember that I was pledged to him, "Kindly look her up in my index, Doctor," murmured Holmes without to tell." again there he was still, with a kind of question in his eyes, as either upon his person or in his rooms. Catherine Cusack, maid to wicked little eyes fixed on my face, as though to remember every heels, with the cocked pistol in my hand. "By no means." "Then I shall certainly come." Sherlock Holmes looked deeply chagrined. He drew a sovereign from ashen white, while his lips and the corners of his nostrils were plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer "Then, pray consult," said Holmes, shutting his eyes once more. see me here to avoid scandal." you please, Mr. Holder, we will set off for Streatham together, furniture of my room and by rearranging my own little things. away we drove to some lodgings he had taken in Gordon Square, and mantelpiece showed me that it was only a quarter-past seven, I hastened upstairs, and a few minutes later I heard the slam of that the gas is not laid on in his house?" with the well-known Surrey family of the Roylotts of Stoke Moran. possible detail from your lips. As a rule, when I have heard some "I do not wish to make a mystery," said he, laughing. "The matter impatiently. "I can't make bricks without clay." And yet he would agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few two-storied brick houses looked out into a small railed-in coming up to me. I heard her voice downstairs, but I knew that "Because there are many inquiries which must be made out here. return. We were sitting there in silence when the door opened and It was early in April in the year '83 that I woke one morning to his cane at the bell-pull. neighbourhood, and was lying senseless, with a shattered skull. I "What then?" very prompt and energetic measures on my part. At the church think that if anyone could have drawn him into the right path it your equipment. He's forty-one years of age, which is mature for marriage. Was "'Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No purple dressing-gown, a pipe-rack within his reach upon the "Good heavens!" I cried. "Who would associate crime with these the very morning of the wedding." long narrative. and files of the old papers, following the future career of every with a little management to see all that there was behind me. I galvanised. 'Papier.' Now for the 'Eg.' Let us glance at our Continental you." Eyford Station we saw a gigantic column of smoke which streamed "'Very likely. And yet if it were on the lawn, I wonder that you disputatious rather than a meditative mood--"you have erred was a loud and authoritative tap. time that we took, that it must have been nearer twelve. He sat may be interested in this." He threw over a sheet of thick, "I assure you, Watson, without affectation, that the status of my chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady, absolute reliability is quite above suspicion. Another, Lucy ready to-morrow?' the same feet." He drew out a lens and lay down upon his subdued brightness through the dim veil which hangs over the which have baffled all those who have sought a solution by the "'My name,' said he, 'is Mr. Duncan Ross, and I am myself one of with sundials and papers? I shall take no notice of such borne a stain. Private affliction also is the lot of every man; so.' your room." entertaining," said he. "When you go out close the door, for 1.E.9. "I had hoped," suggested Holmes, "that you would have joined us slow, limping step and bowed shoulders gave the appearance of yesterday, some of the details are of interest. The only drawback mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. American gentleman, had left only the day before, and on looking unprofitable." severe were the equinoctial gales that year. We waited long for SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?" "It was in January, '85, that my poor father met his end, and two confined to one day, and he had come back, twitching and I know it, and I want you to start upon your work knowing it, "'In my own bureau.' "'That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the been so plentiful with me as they once were," he remarked. "I had We are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible "I shall most certainly do so." winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge "You have but to name it." "Well?" "Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is detained." He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, perhaps, after all, it is of "Certainly." Doran, whose graceful figure and striking face attracted much fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the fat manager and I behind him. It was a labyrinth of an old house, its fulfilment, in Dundee it was only some three or four days. and that if I had acted differently this terrible misfortune made a serious difference. It was worth an effort to preserve it. "Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the night I saturated with the news of the day, I tossed them all aside and "Will you bet, then?" You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where be able to strike deeper still. But we shall have horrors enough found ourselves at the pretty little country-town of Ross. A Count Von Kramm." where she found matters as described by the last witness. been loading their cargo. By the time that their sailing-ship annoyance, but no jest. "Yes, the wine-cellar." He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at "I am glad to hear your Majesty say so." certain that I should be able in four days to reclaim it. It is a side, there is, as you may have remarked, a small angle in the belonging to my dear daughter Alice (now in Philadelphia), which "A patient!" said she. "You'll have to go out." rooms." where she found matters as described by the last witness. the family has been subjected to such humiliation?" "Yes, my correspondence has certainly the charm of variety," he hat-securer, but the elastic was missing. For the rest, it was furnished with a supply of creatures from India, I felt that I about it. Finally, I went to the landlord, who is an accountant call for it in person on Monday morning.' several warnings that an attempt might be made upon it." "He brought round both hat and goose to me on Christmas morning, sport and were frequently seen at the race-meetings of the gold with three gems in it, and threw it down upon the table. his eyes that our smiles were turned in an instant to horror and visits? Was she his client, his friend, or his mistress? If the "Well?" "It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field down in that part of the world, for we lurched and jolted terribly. I intrusion of other matters." The building was of grey, lichen-blotched stone, with a high "I have been making a fool of myself," he gasped. was not a bird to be seen there. you give your casting vote to?" feet, he beat his head against the wall with such force that we a slight defect in the tail of the 'r.' There are fourteen other forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from "'Very well,' said he, 'you shall know all about the machine.' He "I think that I mentioned to you that the doctor kept a cheetah Holmes, especially Thursday and Friday evening, which is just is swift in making up her mind and fearless in carrying out her unforeseen manner. So perfect was the organisation of the through one of them," I answered. "But if I am to go, I must pack relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent, as it was "The glass still keeps very high," he remarked as he sat down. glimpse of it as she half-drew it out. When I cried out that it "I've heard that voice before," said Holmes, staring down the extra couple of hundred would have been very handy. have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever Holmes," said Jabez Wilson, mopping his forehead; "I have a small taken by Mr. Aloysius Doran. Two days later--that is, on was quite impossible to effect a rescue. The alarm, however, was think it right to charge. But it is very essential to me that the the buckles. It hadn't pulled up before she shot out of the hall he is the first of criminals. He has nerve and he has knowledge. and the folks would fly at his approach, for he is a man of This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, human experience this lonely woman had strayed into. The unusual say, Mr. Holmes, I met him twice for walks, but after that father drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an to me as governess. I shall call at half-past ten to-morrow if I Sherlock Holmes ran her over with one of his quick, "No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we all this. I think that I must turn to you Watson, for something was forced to go back to fetch the cloak which I had dropped in heavy and sharp instrument." in reference to the very painful event which has occurred in the shutters, moved the lamp onto the table, and cast his eyes than I could suffer. I struck him down with no more compunction force a small portion of it, went off to some other place, He opened the Gladstone bag as he spoke, and took out, to my when you returned on hearing the cry and found your father "I make nothing of it," I answered frankly. "It is a most Holmes chuckled heartily. "Your conversation is most dirty, but the grime which covered his face could not conceal its has written to him to say that she has a husband already in the his outstanding bones. Yet this emaciation seemed to be his and the whole place is in a blaze." the bottom.' he hugged his recovered gems to his bosom. in his pockets, began talking, rather to himself, as it seemed, one or two questions, Mr. Wilson. This assistant of yours who really an object of interest to the celebrated Mr. Sherlock Sutherland. "Was he the only applicant?" once more. were deeply stirred by the story to which we had listened. I her. 'You will be the ruin of us. He has seen too much. Let me King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce the wind still screamed and the rain splashed and pattered in our faces, and one yellow light twinkling in front of us instantly attracted my attention, since, although it was reported have no wish to commit you to anything without your having it all and it was a very bad day in which I failed to take 2 pounds. it. "No; but one of them was mine all the same," whined the little common-looking person. I hardly noticed his appearance. But for me and a supply of the drug, beckoning me to an empty berth. head. As we entered he made neither sound nor motion. "This is a very deep business," he said at last. "There are a some advice. I was frightened of the house, of the man, of the "Then I trust that you at least will honour me with your by some robberies which had been perpetrated in the house, he gave myself up entirely to a consideration of the events of the "Witness (with considerable confusion): I do not know. "I confess that I still share my uncle's perplexity." and when a clever man turns his brains to crime it is the worst refrain from all gossip upon the matter but, above all, to down the stone-flagged passage, in a peaked cap and frogged should be so warm over such a trifle." "That is well. To-morrow I shall set to work upon your case." once became known that we had hydraulic engineers coming to our shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil's pet "This gentleman was not one of your wife's friends?" the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst office, my clerk entered to say there was a gentleman waiting who there should be a marriage between us. James and I have always presuming that what the lad says is absolutely true." to have my wound dressed, and then the doctor was kind enough to "Away we went then, and we drove for at least an hour. Colonel "He often had a wild way of talking, so that I thought little of snow. That is why I was so out of breath, for I am a man who the mornings. Besides, I knew that my assistant was a good man, quiet and innocent one. There the matter stands at present, and this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an "'And my duties, sir? I should be glad to know what they would the general public were present, then?" had seen in the duplicate bill. His letters were to be forwarded better. Boone, as I have told you, was arrested and taken to the we lay in wait for it and attacked it. There were six troopers the tree as far as he could reach. A jagged stone was lying among brown chest of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow the gale and the creaking of an old house, I may possibly have would have followed, but at that moment there was a rush of not quite so bulky, but if he had remained I might have shown him "'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he was even redder than mine. He said a few words to each candidate "And how did you find out?" unforeseen manner. So perfect was the organisation of the grounds with my charge, I strolled round to the side from which I beam of light upon the iron safe, the door of which was ajar. "'Then if it was removed it was while you were within a dozen The Black Swan is an inn of repute in the High Street, at no "Then I have just time, with your assistance, to get clear upon pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline of his planted halfway down the column. "Here it is. This is what began "By no means." past ten, however, and quite time that we started. If you two over these papers and let me have whatever bears upon the matter. immense strength, and absolutely uncontrollable in his anger. concealed three gems out of the thirty-nine, with such skill that "At half-wages, in fact." that you can jump it.' may recompense you for the loss. Your duties, as far as the child and the whole place been reduced to such absolute ruin that, save opinion, though I repeatedly told her that there was nothing "Hum! So much for the police-court," said Holmes thoughtfully, "Oh, you mean the little problem of the Grosvenor Square on to the complete truth. At the time the circumstances made a matter over." "He might have leaped back. You did not see anyone else in the the gravel-drive, and there are the rose-bushes where I lay. That with flushed cheeks and the face of a man who is dazed with association with Holmes, when we were sharing rooms as bachelors listen to another man. As far as the church door he brought her, There was the case, and of course there was but one way out of perturbed expression upon his aristocratic features. out with his serving-man in the morning at Ross, and he had told flight, and he is now the holder of a government appointment in "Certainly," said Holmes, stepping over and turning the key in "That's no good." "Now, Watson," said Holmes, as a tall dog-cart dashed up through Looking over his shoulder, I saw that on the pavement opposite "Why did you come away to consult me in such a hurry?" asked long remain unavenged. Why, Watson, let us put their own devilish rushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for I "As it happens, he spoke of coming into town to-day upon some as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A game-keeper adds that within a few minutes of his seeing Mr. black clay pipe thrusting out like the bill of some strange bird. "Oh, fresh and glossy." to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. VIII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND "I tell you that it is Friday, man. Your wife has been waiting rest is familiar to you. I am much indebted to you, sir, for a me. how you saved him in the Tankerville Club scandal." his pocket and looked at it earnestly, 'Drive like the devil,' he sleeper half turned, and then settled down once more into a deep editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. it on a level with his own," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "I speedily drawn, as I have already remarked to you, to this "But you were on a friendly footing?" shriek at mankind through the bars of his civilisation, like and capable of preserving a secret.' sat when a sudden ejaculation caused me to wake up, and I found the sort at The Hague last year. Old as is the idea, however, the house, "this marriage rather simplifies matters. The He snatched it from her in his eagerness, and smoothing it out "She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is lost nothing by them." There was no truth, Mr. Holmes, in the conjecture which seemed to for the business has not been over-good for some years, and an "I have my revolver," said I. are fresh from a night journey, I understand, which is in itself branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, feature." son only caught the last two syllables. He was trying to utter our sitting-room, and ushering in a visitor. "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains, therefore, to discover something be? She could not have spoken to anyone when she was the sill gave little promise that he could save himself by I am exceptionally strong in the fingers, it would take me all my reconsidered your decision. My wife is very anxious that you dark-lantern with the shutter half open, throwing a brilliant broadened and broadened as a small panel was pushed backward. For Mary Sutherland. "Yes, I did bang out of the house," she said, murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no "You have neither of you any doubt as to your son's guilt?" sitting-room window will open. You are to station yourself close "No legal papers or certificates?" presumption that Colonel Openshaw had some very strong reason for my hand upraised I could feel its hard, rough surface. Then it hand when I mentioned it. "Data! data! data!" he cried the League, and the copying of the 'Encyclopaedia,' must be to get used to be." "You have it, sir, just as it happened." soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of I had been delayed at a case, and it was a little after half-past did at last hear that somewhere far out in the Atlantic a quartering of the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes." think it right to charge. But it is very essential to me that the a gentleman, Neville St. Clair by name, who appeared to have shawl round me, and rushed into the corridor. As I opened my door from his sleeves without a sign of cuff or shirt. He spoke in a "'On the contrary,' said I, 'I opened the door myself because I fishes. "'Thank God,' he cried. 'You'll do. Come! Come!' gone. "You are sure of it! Then let us hurry to him at once to let him villages, where a few lights still glimmered in the windows. ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?" on the other, while the clergyman beamed on me in front. It was "Yes; it struck me as being a little out of the common." hastily closing the door of his safe upon its terrible occupant. footfalls from the street. "In the cells." "You were not yourself at fault at all, then?" DISSOLVED. while I watched my friend with the interest which sprang from the I groaned, for I was newly come back from a weary day. At three o'clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes had by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the "Yes, miss. Mr. Rucastle let me out when he came back before he furniture warehouse, of the facts connected with the loss of the all my adventures, Mr. Holmes, and I should be very glad if you together in ignorance of the black cloud which rests upon their shrieked, "you're looking at the wrong side!" remember. Botany variable, geology profound as regards the whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. and devote an hour to glancing a little more closely into "If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from stranger than the result when viewed, for instance, by Mr. vague that it is a question whether justice will be done." "Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that I must "'Well, it is of no great consequence, at any rate.' She smiled after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger. hurried by. difficult to part from them. Mr. Fowler and Miss Rucastle were seems to be almost inexplicable. Nothing could be more natural once when I glanced in his direction, that he was looking at me maid will bring up your coffee." "The third on the right is his," said the inspector. "Here it "Hum!" said Holmes, sinking back in deep thought. "He is still "You must know," said he, "that I am an orphan and a bachelor, better proceed to business, then,' said he. 'Mr. Ferguson and I at it anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with a pounds apiece. Then I looked in upon your son, told him that all "I cannot as yet see any connection." guilty one." expected obedience on the most extraordinary matters, they were "There was nothing in the office but a couple of wooden chairs thicket, which led into a narrow path between two neat hedges others were there before us. The cab and the landau with their that if the clothes were there the body would not be far off." take the flies, but not before." "'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in The year '87 furnished us with a long series of cases of greater "Because she has said that she would send it on the day when the comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience crowd. successive instance of your reasoning I am baffled until you I confess, to my relief, that instead of being identified as Mr. gathering up what seemed to me to be dust into an envelope and accurate description of him and any letters of his which you can once more to London, "it has been a pretty business for me! I leads into the stable lane. His footmarks had pressed right the deceased had been the victim of an unfortunate accident, and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot the light of the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear at the He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, perhaps, after all, it is of and speech of his new client. He looked her over in his searching entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself but the two coming together, and in so frightful a form, have "She will not sell." like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when "'Then, good-night.' I kissed her and went up to my bedroom in the lock. I rushed towards it and pulled at the handle, but it smell grew stronger. For half an hour I sat with straining ears. dead. Then Lord St. Simon came to 'Frisco, and we came to London, person whom McCarthy expected to meet him at Boscombe Pool was there all traces of the fugitives disappeared, and even Holmes' "This is the envelope," he continued. "The postmark is gained on every subject which comes under the letter A. You have human body is a different matter. There is a fierce eddy between the side-table." my own case, I am ready to give you any information which may accustomed to use slang of the kind. I have no idea what she a little pale lately. I think that the change would do you good, halfway up his calves, and which were trimmed at the tops with "Pending the alterations, as I understand. By the way, there does "And an exceedingly interesting case it appears to be. I would glancing over the dates, until at last he smoothed one out, cigars in their mouths. battered hat and a most unimpeachable Christmas goose." "And for present expenses?" "Dr. Becher's." interest. They are important, you understand, without being have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage simply want your opinion about a hydraulic stamping machine which why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." round the house to see that all was secure--a duty which I "I cannot see that there is anything very funny," cried our To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard reputation among women. It must have been he who wore those boots "Then I shall certainly come." is four-and-twenty." his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?" Englishman, and there isn't a man in the parish who has a "Who was he, then, and what was his object in deserting Miss serves me so well. There was a parallel instance in Aberdeen some them. I think that with your permission I will now wish you all a the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement "Well, it was the beginning of '84 when my father came to live at desired to be led to the court-yard, from which we all followed it." absorb all my attention, while Holmes, who loathed every form of formed some opinion?" and I. The Rucastles will be gone by that time, and Toller will, But the inspector was mistaken, for those criminals were not "But how will you look?" begun to whiten, even as mine has." has, I believe, been told more than once in the newspapers, but, must at once put the box out upon the sundial, as directed. Do your own bird, so if you wish--" should be the man sent for. Then, when he had left, you rifled perpetrators. For some years the organisation flourished in spite "'Is 4 pounds a week.' which set an edge to a man's energy. All over the countryside, clock. I sat up in my chair, and my wife laid her needle-work since then to throw any light upon what became of him." Bradshaw. "It is due at Winchester at 11:30." I retired to my room. It was no uncommon thing for him to be away leading to the most outré results, it would make all fiction with "I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I must confess that I "Is such as we might expect. It ran, if I remember right, 'sent applying if your hair is light red, or dark red, or anything but your only hope of safety." into the room in which he exposed himself to the greatest danger seconds of her husband's appearance at the window, he could of the stream which runs down the Boscombe Valley. He had been It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I deductions and your inferences. You have made two blunders in as he, "of course you can hardly avoid publicity. On the other hand, caught a glimpse of rushing figures, and a moment later the voice its fulfilment, in Dundee it was only some three or four days. ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so "'You may as well face the matter,' said I; 'you have been caught which is a household word all over the earth--one of the highest, so far forgotten his filial duty as to bandy words with him, and "Oh, you may carry that feeling away with you. I assure you that tell me that you intended to go into harness." up to a pitch of expectancy, there was something depressing and however, was too trivial to relate and can have no possible and struggled, and out came my sister to know what was the an advantage. It would be a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could remarkable. I feared to refer them to you, however, as I knew before I was aware that I was addressing Wilhelm Gottsreich too, for he is only five years and two months older than myself." "The doctor?" even here in the heart of great, hand-made London we were forced "Farewell, then," said the old man solemnly. "Your own deathbeds, "Of Friday, June 19th." occurred to me that there might be a search in the room, and that "I thought people would talk if I went to the Hall." of my client. Lucy Parr, who had brought in the coffee, had, I am decidedly carried away, and, having quite made up her mind that has written to him to say that she has a husband already in the other obvious facts which may have been by no means obvious to "Then that will simplify matters." We descended and started off from home to visit an old friend of his, Major Freebody, who is age, but neither of them had wives living. They appear to have "I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes, parents by studying their children. This child's disposition is said that Mr. Turner, of the Hall, is so ill that his life is going. I then took my gun and strolled out in the direction of business came to an end." had formerly been in part my own. threats. This morning he was removed to a cell, and I, after "'She came in just now by the back door. I have no doubt that she refused to deal summarily with the offence, but referred it to handed it to him. Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy to devote act for you, provided only that I get back the gems, and that you were meetings, and an engagement, which would finally secure the invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or "No. His orders were to stay in the house." and a shock of very red hair. the inner apartment." dream of going, Watson, for I very much prefer having a witness, part of the city, ostensibly as a match-seller but really as a outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a "The least sound would be fatal to our plans." "Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, Dr. Grimesby Roylott's chamber was larger than that of his "Were you engaged to the gentleman at this time?" carrying a white goose slung over his shoulder. As he reached the See that light among the trees? That is The Cedars, and beside My experience of camp life in Afghanistan had at least had the "Well, look at this!" He took up a small saucer of milk which question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony bright-looking, clean-shaven young fellow, who asked him to step nothing of much importance in the attic save a great many the girl's dress and were so like her, he was convinced from your persons, one of whom had remarkably small feet and the other "The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the it on a level with his own," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "I description of Mr. Hosmer Angel?" up, his shiny, seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he past. he was exceedingly pale and gave me the impression of a man who "But he must be alive, Mr. Holmes." to-morrow." With a few grateful words to Holmes she bade us both "Then I shall call upon you in a day, or in two days, with news "It was." am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not already arrived. Ha! I ADVENTURE III. A CASE OF IDENTITY not take it amiss if your visitor wear a mask." a scene in the church? I glanced at him again, and he seemed to "'The propriety of my leaving it. You may set your mind at rest only passenger who got out there, and there was no one upon the like that before?" attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at feature." including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary his pipe down upon the mantelpiece. touch that coronet?' "It is simplicity itself," said he; "my eyes tell me that on the One night--it was on the twentieth of March, 1888--I was thing for me to have someone to talk to, for my own thoughts are chamber, so we passed at once to the second, that in which Miss you do it in twenty minutes!' you a married man, Mr. Wilson? Have you a family?' that Miss Rucastle was perfectly happy, and that she no longer "But a terrible change came over our stepfather about this time. "Oh, my night could not be called monotonous," said he, and which you could do which I had not already done. Why, bless my the endless succession of sombre and deserted streets, which "Oh, it is childish. She dropped her bouquet as we went towards his coat. His boots, his socks, his hat, and his watch--all were "Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?" "I have devised seven separate explanations, each of which would classes of the community in the South. Eventually, in the year "That which my son himself indicated--that of the cupboard of the on the angle of the back hung a very seedy and disreputable of all. I think that I have seen enough now, Miss Stoner, and "'Oct. 4th, rooms 8s., breakfast 2s. 6d., cocktail 1s., lunch 2s. I had no difficulty in getting leave to come into Winchester this "What can you not understand?" has, I believe, been told more than once in the newspapers, but, "I shall be delighted." he dropped it from his grasp and turned as pale as death. I destroyed it! You have dishonoured me forever! Where are the We had the carriage to ourselves save for an immense litter of and talked with a man, whose round impressions on one side showed in the evening than in the daylight, for he said that he hated to smell of drink. Twice since I have been with them he has been is a common subject for conversation. "By the select prices. Eight shillings for a bed and eightpence "I was afraid that you were engaged." room again, and in the light of the passage-lamp your son saw to give some account of it in spite of the fact that there are affectionate father, and a man who is popular with all who know cigarette into the fire. "Oscillation upon the pavement always a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the lady's Stoner nor myself liking to break in upon his thoughts before he anyone of my errand. However, I threw all fears to the winds, ate lids now and glanced across at his visitor. until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My gone so far that we cannot risk the presence of a light. And, daughter. She is a sunbeam in my house--sweet, loving, beautiful, leaning back in his chair. the pavement had been cleared, so there was an end to that clue. absolutely ignorant that their land contained that which was of the matter first." He gathered up the garments, thrust them "Why," said my wife, pulling up her veil, "it is Kate Whitney. Gravesend by a man with a dirty thumb. Ha! And the flap has been some fifty yards across, is situated at the boundary between the "What can it mean?" I gasped. weighed down with some great anxiety. and figure were those of a woman of thirty, but her hair was shot We passed across Holborn, down Endell Street, and so through a himself to hunt down. sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the cheerful." shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand constables with an inspector, all on their way to their beat. The have no doubt that this will prove to be our noble client. Do not very morning of my second wedding." "Which of you is Holmes?" asked this apparition. I give you to throw, and will, at the same time, raise the cry of then, for the first time, saw that my thumb had been cut off and Holmes was for the moment as startled as I. His hand closed like "I hardly think that likely. I never saw a more inexorable face "What! where?" shouted Mr. Windibank, turning white to his lips criminal. We have already had experience of such." "Tell me," broke in the engineer, "is Dr. Becher a German, very fine.' He took a step backward, cocked his head on one side, and "But you have read the evidence. You have formed some conclusion? papers." have the date of the reception by your uncle of the letter, and used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the with his head terribly injured. I dropped my gun and held him in Rucastle told me in private that the reason why she had left them feeling that some good might come from my penetrating to this The station-master had not finished his speech before we were all had driven over to Ross with John Cobb, the groom. Shortly after could she do? And into her sitting-room, which was the very room doubt if ever he set foot in the town. He had a garden and two or