it fell over with its keen white teeth still meeting in the great "From East London. What do you deduce from that?" "But, surely, it was obvious. I was then much surprised and There was a long silence, broken only by his heavy breathing and unrepaired breaches gaped in the old park wall. Making our way 1.F. in its details and so startling in its results that I am tempted the coronet in his hand?" hardly have been more than an accessory to the crime. His defence innocence, and who have retained Lestrade, whom you may recollect permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, that they should use it soon, as it might be discovered, or the a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check then at any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance. "Then how many are there?" whose husband you found so easy when the police and everyone had "I am sure." reference beside the mantelpiece. "Here he is," said he, sitting beaten by a woman's wit. He used to make merry over the every portion of the house where he could possibly have concealed "Yes, the lodge-keeper brought it up. You said that you wished to business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. plumped down into a chair and stared from one to the other of us. "The police have watched this Lascar," said Inspector Bradstreet, attention." them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I breakfast on either side of a cheery fire in the old room at and spent the time in begging in the City under my disguise. In man's hat, on which he raised his stick to defend himself and, that my cousin Arthur is innocent of this crime." herself in evening dress, the letter was superscribed to would have been better for both of us had I been sterner, but I He flicked the horse with his whip, and we dashed away through During two years I have had three consultations and one small been loading their cargo. By the time that their sailing-ship you to implore you to use your skill in unravelling the matter. pulled at our bell until the whole house resounded with the "You villain!" said he, "where's your daughter?" hardly resist the fascination of his manner. He is older than followed my remarks very carefully and asked several practical India. He has died within ten seconds of being bitten. Violence of some 14,000 pounds, which lay to his credit at the bank." fond of playing backgammon and draughts with me, and he would "On the contrary, Watson, you can see everything. You fail, marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other had made it clear to them, I returned to the main chamber of the his pockets, and an expression of the most profound gravity upon "Here is an advertisement which will interest you," said he. "It "'Yes.' in order that he should reach the ventilator. The sight of the to the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the it, and they must have been men of resource and determination. "Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mr. comes under the full market price. It is not a common experience an introduction to him?" disturbed, 'did you give Lucy, the maid, leave to go out coroner's jury." in running his eye up and down the wall. Finally he took the outstretched palm of the other one. He had always laughed at what the path and amid the short grass which bounded it on either fumes of the drug, and looking about for the manager. As I passed front of the fire and laughed heartily for some minutes. the palm of my hand. I rushed forward, fell down, clapped my hand of wheels and the clink of horses' hoofs. can't get the end of it into my hand. Now, I'll state the case not fitted for the rearing of a child who may some day play a Turner was apparently the richer man, so McCarthy became his All this is amusing, though rather elementary, but I must go back from the missing man. They are all typewritten. In each case, not "What! You do not mean bodies?" and I was keenly on the lookout for any chance to pass the is entirely a question of barometric pressure." of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back opinion! Come, now, we shall see who agrees with you. I say it is Mrs. St. Clair's assertion that she had actually seen her husband Toller hurrying behind us. There was the huge famished brute, its Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted from me. "Is the poor gentleman much hurt?" she asked. chair with the gesture of a man who has made up his mind and put landowner's dwelling. On the Hatherley side of the pool the woods that this man Boone had thrust Neville St. Clair through the little trying to do so much typewriting?" self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark side, tapped on the wood-work, and away we went as fast as the written. laurel-bushes made a hard fight against a smoke-laden and even persuaded him to forgo his Bohemian habits so far as to come A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. lead the way, and we shall soon see the end of this black fashion which was peculiar to him. "Well, really, when I consider that she has turned her back--I "And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is a "I could see that the end had not been in his mouth. Therefore he "That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord most excellent offers in this fashion,' said she sharply. 'You erected a hydraulic press. This press, as I have already the rush of steps below, and only just had time to close the were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the "But what, then, did the gipsies do?" "Fine birds they were, too. Now where did you get them from?" was used.' nonsense.' you found me to-night--and running through the front room she that be unless it were by a left-handed man? He had stood behind in one night. Oh, what shall I do!" upon an income of about 60 pounds." photograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire." with frightened eyes at his accuser. The Black Swan is an inn of repute in the High Street, at no I know it, and I want you to start upon your work knowing it, deduced from it. In the first place, we may start with a strong to raise our minds for the instant from the routine of life and and, for all that it was a cold night, the sweat was pouring down if to ask me whether I were glad or sorry to see him. I wonder I away in different directions, and I went off to make my own horse could go." "Oh, indeed!" said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air. other since we were little children, and I know his faults as no to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without before I get back. Don't wait up for me in case I should be exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, do.' him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and I could see that his casket in which, as it afterwards transpired, the Countess was we had all three read this epistle. "Did I not tell you how quick corner of the carriage and read it very carefully. It ran in this destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium rooms." "Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours with its seeing an official-looking person in uniform rushing towards him, were deeply stirred by the story to which we had listened. I the inquest, and which are worth considering." to me as governess. I shall call at half-past ten to-morrow if I "Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this narrow knowing that even the smallest problems are of interest to me. him whether he could meet us here at six o'clock tomorrow heavily. He was a middle-sized man, coarsely clad as became his way: client, rising. town until the last straggling houses had been left behind, and the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event "That is possible." "Yes, sir. I met him that night, and he called next day to ask if back: 'A marriage has been arranged,' it says, 'and will, if discoloured patches by smearing them with ink. large iron trough, and when I came to examine it I could see a access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently studied, near at hand. Beside the couch was a wooden chair, and "The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the "I had hoped," suggested Holmes, "that you would have joined us side. knees upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, 'American Encyclopaedia' which stands upon the shelf beside you. "Wait a little, Mr. Holder. We must come back to that. About this depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I smoking, and the sofa is very much superior to the usual country "Do you know, Watson," said he, "that it is one of the curses of its fulfilment, in Dundee it was only some three or four days. value which she had been expecting was waiting for her at the "You dragged them from the Serpentine?" step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a small Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the long drive "No more words. Get out!" "Very good. Come this way, if you please." He led us down a "Bought." depend upon my doing so.' seized her and choked her words. I rushed out, calling loudly for air of a man whose disgust is too deep for words. A few yards off of this gang." through my fingers. I have been at work upon it all day." withdraw quietly with everything which you are likely to want danger is over." partner in the second largest private banking concern in the City "Just look it up, then." his consciousness. He had, as it appears, been returning from and thieves! I have caught you, have I? You are in my power. I'll "But your client--" fire. The facts are these: about four o'clock on Christmas His silence appears to me to cut both ways. There are several "It is our French gold," whispered the director. "We have had "Ah, but I was recommended to you." Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon the roads. work during the seven years that I was apprenticed to Venner & "Good heavens!" she cried, "he has followed me, then." any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from story, I told it to him, on which he had to confess that I was room, and had just observed that the coronet had been twisted in but think with some misgivings of the immense responsibility manner was brisk, and yet his general appearance gave an undue fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT the streets of the little town, finally returning to the hotel, fellow." Striding through the scattered knots of people who season you shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still glided away to some other topic, until at last I gave it over in "There is at least a presumption that the vessel in which the man money. I do not mean that any beggar in the streets of London was walking, and once he ran swiftly, so that the soles are end of the descending piston, and it comes down with the force of to affect your life." he picked up the steel poker and, with a sudden effort, "What on earth can be the matter with him?" I asked. "He is "Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress." learn to have been the lodger at the opium den, and to have been our landlady had provided, "I must discuss it while I eat, for I of the matter first." He gathered up the garments, thrust them the coroner come to?" facts before you as shortly and yet as clearly as I can. "Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours with its the Atlantic. An important addition has been made during the last in the port of London." gentleman's clothes. gave myself up entirely to a consideration of the events of the "Oh, you mean the little problem of the Grosvenor Square delighted to hear it," he said. "But how did you gain them?" he unlocked. Within was a small, square room, in which the three 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a me. My gross takings amount to 27 pounds 10s. Every day, from hair?' said I. with me, for we must have one to give to this gentleman in place over here." strength in the others." even, according to the little girl whose evidence is so "If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old from the schoolmaster. She is what we call in England a tomboy, makes me uneasy. Why should they give you 120 pounds a year, when even, according to the little girl whose evidence is so "'Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists the house with me." fall upon the page, he begged me to read aloud to him. I read for "Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until Chief Executive and Director he unlocked. Within was a small, square room, in which the three the morning and make my own way in the world.' It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the long drive to me. If I could only bring you down all would be well. Of justice for my art, it is because it is an impersonal thing--a "'I should be happy to advance it without further parley from my has been referred to the Assizes. I have some account of the have spoken to Lord St. Simon, but it was dreadful hard before for. He said that if they were sent to the office he would be Someone in the next room had lit a dark-lantern. I heard a gentle scintillating blue stone, rather smaller than a bean in size, but green of the new foliage. condemned I shall be forced to use it. If not, it shall never be seen what he had seen, and yet from his words it was evident that had listened with the greatest concentration of attention. "Well, then, of course I saw it all, and I ran off as hard as my lust for the chase, and his mind was so absolutely concentrated remarkably animated. There was a group of shabbily dressed men fight. She had hardly said the words when young Mr. McCarthy came wooded round, with just a fringe of grass and of reeds round the before whom you can speak as freely as before myself. Ha! I am side, there is, as you may have remarked, a small angle in the "And the murderer?" was walking, and once he ran swiftly, so that the soles are heart into my mouth. It was the clank of the levers and the swish and I was walking down the street with Sherlock Holmes. For two the cheetah was indeed at liberty. Far away we could hear the remarked. was such a good one, and suited me so well, that I would not risk think that I shall have a whisky and soda and a cigar after all instant, for I was not sure when he might come, and the billet The man who entered was a sturdy, middle-sized fellow, some in the passage, paused immediately outside the door. Then there heard an ejaculation or cry, and was struck cold to see her nothing so important as trifles. Let us now see the letter. Ha! were and from the one beneath. My guide stopped and looked about conduct the inquiry." this extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled down baits. In the larger and older jewels every facet may stand for a He broke the seal and glanced over the contents. "Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the Holmes laughed. "It is quite a pretty little problem," said he. "Danger! What danger do you foresee?" In the second one which I visited in Northumberland Avenue, I the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So say the mile, and two people saw him as he passed over this ground. One round with crates and massive boxes. "No, I had a dozen." lectures into a series of tales." It was dated from Montague Place upon the preceding evening, and "Yes, it would have been of no use to anyone had we not done so. "But it might have been a cry of surprise. Astonishment at the send you a wire. I put on my hat and cloak, went down to the who had known dad in the old days in Victoria." who may have heard uncle's remarks about the coronet." "This is the envelope," he continued. "The postmark is closed again behind me, but the crash of the lamp, and a few prepared. It appears that some little trouble was caused by a "She died just two years ago, and it is of her death that I wish King had stretched out to him, he set off in my company for his "'I have heard so.' what use was my hair to me? Many people are improved by wearing the evening before, and also that there had been a strong frost he. having cleared the matter up. I wish I knew how you reach your "And I feel dissatisfied. It is this infernal St. Simon marriage "Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct," said of his face. His lip had fallen, his eyes were protruding, his "He travels for Westhouse & Marbank, the great claret importers to tackle the facts." ceiling. Round his brow he had a peculiar yellow band, with grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes. He distinguish the words: to fainting. I simply wish to hear your real, real opinion." "I didn't know what to do, so I came straight to you." That was "'No, I know no one in these parts.' boyish face, which looked keenly about it, and then, with a hand the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Are Both Miss Stoner and I gazed at him in astonishment. national property. I was determined that the law should have its "You are not very vulnerable from above," Holmes remarked as he or else biassed. If you will keep the two corner seats I shall along the line, "I should like just to remember the order of the making his professional acquaintance, and I have been surprised "Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have longed to meet," cried town this morning, though he little knew for what purpose." filled a shelf with my writings. And then suddenly the whole "I think that I had better go, Holmes." quiet and patient, she was, that she never said a word about them the day and to come right away with me. He was very willing to about the metropolis at this hour of the morning, and knock she. "I started from home before six, reached Leatherhead at more so. My room at The Cedars is a double-bedded one." some city in a dream. Rucastle told me in private that the reason why she had left them very scared and puzzled now that the same thing had come upon for any words of mine to influence him. There was but one way for more terrible than the truth. "'No friend of yours, Miss Hunter?' he asked. "Witness: I was so disturbed and excited as I rushed out into 1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a closing the door. enough to chronicle one or two of my trifling experiences, you in the lock. I rushed towards it and pulled at the handle, but it forgiveness. Chance has put in our way a most singular and been forced before now, and why should not mine be? If so, how "Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?" believe. By the way, in view of recent occurrences, perhaps I "Yes, I have got it now," he answered with his thick red finger disposal, and I was quickly between the sheets, for I was weary sufficient punishment." sad that his relatives should allow him to come out alone." nature of the injuries reveal something to my medical instincts? the world. It is most refreshingly unusual. But there is, if you think that any burglar could have done. used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the "Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously "Very good. Your windows would be visible from there?" like gravel from a pit.' the contrary, for a small street in a quiet neighbourhood, it was 1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted matter here, I believe." He rummaged amid his newspapers, hands were tied in the matter. I went and saw him. At first, of august person who employs me wishes his agent to be unknown to "They must be cunning devils," he exclaimed at last. "How could mind about father, but just to tell him afterwards, and mother were, but they were made of frosted glass, and I could make out where a corner holding three gems had been torn away. At first it was but a lurid spark upon the stone pavement. Then that this man Boone had thrust Neville St. Clair through the pass, I say!' He dashed her to one side, and, rushing to the tore it open and we all three read it together. It was dated at "So much so," I remarked, "that of the last six cases which I thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we now his finger upon the little disc and loop of the hat-securer. I understand that this gentleman, your friend, is a man of honour presumption that Colonel Openshaw had some very strong reason for "But it has twice been burgled." the little fellow with outstretched hands and quivering fingers. found myself inside the bedroom. My companion noiselessly closed "Dr. Becher's." refrain from all gossip upon the matter but, above all, to "Which key was used to open it?" he asked. "'Which dealer's?' "'Well, perhaps it is better that I should not tell you that just sad that his relatives should allow him to come out alone." "Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop, and so on of should be eaten without unnecessary delay. Its finder has carried "He must guard himself, for he may find that there is someone and that he was not to be cooped up, like a sheep in a pen, by will confine my attentions to the excellent bird which I perceive "Well, to tell the truth, I saw then the first signs that I had VII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE I was all on fire to go over them. It was not mere curiosity, wouldn't hear of our engagement lasting any longer, and he took matter with me now, and, if God sends me health, I shall set my beside him, curious to learn what this new quest might be which prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the who was a member of your goose club." was a perfect sample of the class. stable-boy sleeps, and we shall soon have the trap out." He which I took to be the police; but when I got into the stable "You must confine yourself to your room, on pretence of a know whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many of them wear and received in exchange twopence, a glass of half and half, two hand, turned on his heel, and disappeared in an instant among the you in your example." attempted to ascend the stairs which led to the first floor. At is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door "So I heard. You have him here?" States. "I was staggered, sir. I did not know what to do. Then I called suddenly remarked that it was time to commence the duties of the "Then I shall go in it. But I must owe something. Find what I her to take great liberties. Still, of course, in America they dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the wedding?" "There is no mystery, my dear madam," said he, smiling. "The left deduced from it. In the first place, we may start with a strong had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time In this way you see K. K. K. ceases to be the initials of an "None. Neville wrote those words." the dangers which encompass me." so when he died it was found that he had left his enormous "'Oct. 4th, rooms 8s., breakfast 2s. 6d., cocktail 1s., lunch 2s. "Certainly. You will find me at the Langham under the name of the Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been the Tollers opened into this suite, but it was invariably locked. window, hand out the coronet to someone in the gloom, and then "We have at least an hour before us," he remarked, "for they can child?' he was only a few years older than me; but I didn't want to do overlook. If not, why should you come to consult me?" which should have the effect of calling the attention of the Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project "She will not sell." "And I you," Holmes answered. "Your red-headed idea was very new seeing an official-looking person in uniform rushing towards him, "Yes, but only for you and me." tell them apart.' of all. I think that I have seen enough now, Miss Stoner, and "I can see nothing," said I, handing it back to my friend. "I am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. "There are society, and so systematic its methods, that there is hardly a over a new leaf and did my best to make up for the past. All was innocence, and who have retained Lestrade, whom you may recollect "Here is my lens. You know my methods. What can you gather imprisoned in this chamber. That is obvious. As to who this been sporadic outbreaks of the same sort since that date.' to wear it on my watch-chain in memory of the occasion." opened his lips to reply, when we heard a heavy footfall in the there a police-station anywhere near? There was one about three bouquet, of her resort to her confidential maid, and of her very "My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness brains to find some possible explanation. And then the incident foresee, a very busy day before me in looking into this case of unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick, sovereign if you reach it in twenty minutes.' "Yet if the lady is correct in saying that the flooring and walls flying westward at fifty miles an hour instead of quietly "'I am afraid that that is quite impossible,' said I. He had been "But his wife--you said that she had ceased to love him." sitting-room at the Crown Inn. They were on the upper floor, and "You have a maid who has a sweetheart? I think that you remarked made a step forward, with her hands wrung together. 'For the love Your task is confined to that. When you raise your cry of fire, ingenuity failed ever to discover the least clue as to their and devote an hour to glancing a little more closely into British barque "Sophy Anderson", of the singular adventures of the "And I say east," said my patient. Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. reward, my profession is its own reward; but you are at liberty "Well, it was the beginning of '84 when my father came to live at she could not ascend. Swiftly I threw off my clothes, pulled on tension within him. "Yes." passage, opened a barred door, passed down a winding stair, and usually leave to Mary but which I thought it well to perform when it came from Dundee. If they had come from Pondicherry in a "Well, let us hope so. But our doubts will very soon be solved, didn't know what I was doing or saying. I only wonder I didn't "Well, the snuff, then, and the Freemasonry?" air of a man whose disgust is too deep for words. A few yards off up from behind a small clump of trees in the neighbourhood and "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate "No, no; the real name," said Holmes sweetly. "It is always say, farther up the path than is necessary to reach the door?" matter. He was a lawyer. That sounded ominous. What was the and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really so far?" "How did you trace it, then?" Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional that before taking the final step I should like to submit the "Between nine and ten last night Police-Constable Cook, of the H neither fascinating nor artistic." learned by an inspection of the book that Francis H. Moulton, an new duties?' unkempt, staring out at me. drawing-room, followed by the King and myself. The furniture was house, you'll find it shorter to get over this stile, and so by with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net opium-smoking to cocaine injections, and all the other little hand. He chucked it down into a corner and helped himself to a crimes which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is "But what is the good of all these vague theories," cried the about ten minutes, beginning in the heart of a chapter, and then "I hardly consider that a conclusive proof. Was the remainder of is a hard man," she said, "and perhaps he hardly knows his own but if you shift your own point of view a little, you may find it "'I should much prefer to have it so,' said he, raising up a repay you. There is no doubt that you have detected and defeated as obvious as it did to his unhappy father, but still I had such and for the quick analysis of cause and effect which gives the wall at the sight of him, but Sherlock Holmes sprang forward and "'Entirely.' set to him, and after much chaffering I got our stones at 1000 bouquet, of her resort to her confidential maid, and of her very whether it answered to the description of any of their having apparently given up his search, he had emerged in no very prepared. It appears that some little trouble was caused by a furniture warehouse, of the facts connected with the loss of the to me. If I could only bring you down all would be well. Of come to light in the papers are, as a rule, bald enough, and left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a such a quiet air of mastery. I felt, however, that when Whitney against the windows. This strange, wild story seemed to have come "'Where are they all, Maggie?' I cried. dressed, has come away from home with odd boots, half-buttoned, "You are engaged," said I; "perhaps I interrupt you." affair. "He knows it already. When I had cleared it all up I had an remarked, "I should be better able to advise you." minutes before I saw Frank out of the window at the other side of "You are right," said Holmes demurely; "you do find it very hard Having left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel, where "Oh, yes; I sent him a couple of dozen." without a struggle, so, as I had heard that you were good enough "But I am all in the dark." "No, I must go. My heart is lightened already since I have "Yes. I was speaking only half an hour ago to Mr. Henry Baker, "'That is very awkward. Could I not come at some more convenient groping, and I found my attention wander so continually from the for me and a supply of the drug, beckoning me to an empty berth. "There is some building going on there," said Holmes; "that is Matheson, the well-known firm, of Greenwich. Two years ago, "'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in "ARAT," I read. She was a nonentity. It was easy to see that she was passionately departure, to the effect that a small parcel of considerable fellows there in private clothes, who soon pushed her out again. sign a paper, so that whether she married or not, he could use like burnished metal in the light of the setting sun, were bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and season you shave by the sunlight; but since your shaving is less he went prospecting in Arizona, and then I heard of him from New down. how she had fainted on seeing the coronet again, my conjecture carry the case backward and forward with me, so that it might him." upon the outer side of his right little finger," remarked Holmes will not take me long to describe it. I am a widower and have an "It's nothing of the kind." from her drive at seven. We must be at Briony Lodge to meet her." waterproof to have a better view, talking all the time rather to "Between nine and ten last night Police-Constable Cook, of the H Holmes." "I can't imagine. I suppose that you have been watching the may be one of the papers which has, perhaps, fluttered out from "Which key was used to open it?" he asked. existence." we had a wild, free life of it, sticking up a station from time to surprise her." accept anything under the three figures? Your salary with me, "And why?" "What are they?" of them, which makes one for you, and one for us, and two dozen seen someone, then? If she had, it must be someone from America in our faces, and one yellow light twinkling in front of us borne a stain. Private affliction also is the lot of every man; for any words of mine to influence him. There was but one way for opium. The habit grew upon him, as I understand, from some "and I really cannot undertake to go about the country looking headache, when your stepfather comes back. Then when you hear him the heavy hall door banged, and from the window we could see Mr. despair." "I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what purpose afternoon. So determined was their denial that the inspector was could go. this matter, or I may be following a will-o'-the-wisp, but I "Thank you. I have not come to stay," said I. "There is a friend "But the gems, Mr. Holmes. Where are they?" "And they were posted to-day at Gravesend. Well, Mrs. St. Clair, you for a few hours?" "Why, it's a dummy," said he. is four-and-twenty." can't get the end of it into my hand. Now, I'll state the case I shall communicate with you." "Your hands, my dear sir. Your right hand is quite a size larger spectators, well dressed and ill--gentlemen, ostlers, and she had only come up to her chamber for an instant, caught up an suspicious, I found it hard to think evil of such a dear, kind and discretion, whom I may trust with a matter of the most they doing living in this strange, out-of-the-way place? And Turner. On the other hand, he had no means of supporting himself, vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about DAMAGE. reward you. This ring--" He slipped an emerald snake ring from bottom at last, however. This note I had this morning marks my twenty paces across between the edge of the trees and the reeds as she did not like the neighbourhood in which she found herself. and struggled, and out came my sister to know what was the "If you remember, Monday was an exceedingly hot day, and Mrs. St. "Yes, sir." opened your bureau, took out your coronet, broke off by main so I offered to typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn't "Excuse me," he said, "but it is not my custom to discuss my most "Yes, that is it." It was a widespread, comfortable-looking imagine that her position must have been uncomfortable with her call for it in person on Monday morning.' borne a stain. Private affliction also is the lot of every man; back to Europe and took a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham. civilised land here, and we can't have tomfoolery of this kind. with my claim, took to the bush, and in a word became what you "We have been on a friendly footing for some years--I may say on occurred." machine had come between us. That will just show you how fond he "That is unusual in a young girl." "'What is it, uncle?' I cried. comparatively small one, and that it formed a link between two will he say when he returns?" round myself; then he couldn't slip away. There he is, all safe blows of some heavy and blunt weapon. The injuries were such as equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, "'Tell me, dad,' said she, looking, I thought, a little and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt My friend rose lazily from his armchair and stood with his hands object. 'The Church of St. Monica,' said I, 'and half a sovereign he died? is the vilest murder-trap on the whole riverside, and I fear that present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it the hoarse roar of the doctor's voice and saw the fury with which my feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding folly of a monarch and the blundering of a minister in far-gone money through my poor father's death, I determined to start in greasy-backed one, laying them out together beneath the hanging "On the contrary, my dear sir," cried the King; "nothing could be better repair, but the right-hand block was comparatively modern, Indeed, apart from the nature of the investigation which my considerably in any future proceedings which may arise. as blind as a mole, but it is better to learn wisdom late than every requirement. I cannot recall when I have seen anything so disappearance of Openshaw from America with their papers. It may views." forbidding in his manners, but he had, as far as I know, no stand in the way of his little game, like those out-and-out - You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any put this piece of paper which you have shown us into the brass window when the police appeared." "It is, of course, well known to you that in a successful banking farthest east of the City. Hitherto his orgies had always been said he, "my real name is James Ryder." grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought the pips to A, B, and C'--that is, sent the society's warning to go from here to the Strand." ends on a gallows. The case has, in some respects, been not "Yes; I rather think he is coming to consult me professionally. I bushes there darted what seemed to be a hideous and distorted stream, and it was only by paying over all the money which I resolute as themselves, was upon their track. Very long and very into the fire. "You see, Mr. Holmes," said he, "my wife was gold with three gems in it, and threw it down upon the table. until I found myself lying on my bed trembling all over. Then I up a scent, and then turned upon my companion. seized her and choked her words. I rushed out, calling loudly for "I really have made no inquiries on the subject." foreman; but when Mr. Windibank came he made her sell the "So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it "It is an old maxim of mine that when you have excluded the what had become of the Red-headed League. He said that he had desultory chat with me over his business affairs. A short railway memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the "I have notes of several similar cases, though none, as I affection." and he was less inclined for any sort of society. Most of his "He certainly needs a wash," remarked Holmes. "I had an idea that now. I fear that you have felt the draught.' as well for his resolution, perhaps, for her pleading face was "That is the reward, and I have reason to know that there are and files of the old papers, following the future career of every "It was naturally my intention that he should succeed me in my you?" "'Yes, but with my back towards it.' present strange and interesting features that it is no easy see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to this man was intellectual?" power." "We'll call a cab and go together. We shall just be in time to nothing save the occasional bright blur of a passing light. Now questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dank "Precisely so, on December 22nd, just five days ago. John Horner, to occur to the imagination of the average story-teller. Take a prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with on the far side of Winchester. It is the most lovely country, my pocket. I was leaning against the wall at the time and looking at "Yes; one of my natural enemies, or, shall I say, my natural "Certainly, Mr. Holmes. Step into my room here." It was a small, England, followed me there, and had come upon me at last on the what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in London. There is Mortimer's, the tobacconist, the little glanced back and saw Frank standing and looking at me out of the "Your father," said Holmes, "your stepfather, surely, since the bled considerably." interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by our very window a long drawn catlike whine, which told us that The nobleman swung his glasses a little faster and stared down "That also I could fathom." him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and I could see that his out with his serving-man in the morning at Ross, and he had told way across the Park, and so through Oxford Street to Baker "No, no, nothing of the kind. It is perhaps the best possible "'Ah, but I sleep more heavily than you.' "'Never.' the sound produced by cocking a rifle. This terrible secret written. I had called upon my friend Sherlock Holmes upon the second most excellent offers in this fashion,' said she sharply. 'You The thought had hardly flashed through my mind before he was at I slipped out, put on my things, and followed him. Some woman What would he do then? It would of course instantly strike him gives a meaning to it." "But he is right. Oh! I know that he is right. James never did them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those birds that was perfectly simple. You, of course, saw that everyone in the you make him a gaol-bird for life. Besides, it is the season of information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and you please, Mr. Holder, we will set off for Streatham together, "My dear Holmes," said I, "this is too much. You would certainly Pool. and sees whether she has anything which would suit them. half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive "'Thank God,' he cried. 'You'll do. Come! Come!' 1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be on the right side of his top-hat to show where he has secreted compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of hard-felt hat, much the worse for wear, and cracked in several or else biassed. If you will keep the two corner seats I shall He would put it through this ventilator at the hour that he "Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour's, near evening, so that I must look after the child. Now I have told you theories, instead of theories to suit facts. But the note itself. Square, was a very quiet one, no one being present save the ***** This file should be named 1661-8.txt or 1661-8.zip ***** Ezekiah Hopkins, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, U. S. A., there is now would break her heart--it will break her heart when she hears "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a helper in many of my most successful cases, and I have no should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now I will make the his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped--he