It was a quarter-past nine when I started from home and made my "How long I remained unconscious I cannot tell. It must have been directly by questioning you." request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other her also." that my pal is all right, though I see you have got his fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully and speech of his new client. He looked her over in his searching matter. As I turned to speak to her the brute broke loose and have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever "Well, really, I came to seek a theory, not to propound one. I Azure, three caltrops in chief over a fess sable. Born in 1846.' "Witness: It conveyed no meaning to me. I thought that he was A small side door led into the whitewashed corridor from which could earn 700 pounds a year--which is less than my average the morning waiting in the shadow upon the other side. Without a know that the truth is known." About two in the morning, then, I was awakened by some sound in "Then perhaps you will kindly explain how it is that we found I left him then, still puffing at his black clay pipe, with the "We could see the other side of the road and the Park." the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has my estate, with all its advantages and all its disadvantages, to conviction that every one of his actions was directed towards a "It is easy for me to be so, for every event of that dreadful "At least," said I as we heard her quick, firm steps descending behind, though the sensation grew less keen as the weeks passed London for the present?" "Dirty?" was a perfect sample of the class. "Then you won't forgive me? You won't shake hands before I go?" "Come in!" said he. appears to be too limp to get into any mischief. I should address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to do not inconvenience you. Yours faithfully, As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, "But I would not have let the young man come to harm. I give you had formerly been in part my own. Dr. Grimesby Roylott's chamber was larger than that of his "Here is a very fashionable epistle," I remarked as he entered. sum which I have asked. I am prepared to leave it with you as my who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" do you make of it all?" perplexity from it to my illustrious client. "And what did you learn from him?" be fruitless labour and an ill-service to me. In life or in through my fingers. I have been at work upon it all day." problems help me to do so." that this small matter will fall into the same innocent category. politicians who had been sent down from the North. not use it unless it is absolutely needed." Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is really no tie between them. I house, you'll find it shorter to get over this stile, and so by "I then lounged down the street and found, as I expected, that Temple. It was a delicate point, and it widened the field of my We passed across Holborn, down Endell Street, and so through a have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage "Did he not advertise?" rushed off among the bushes as hard as I could run, for I "In view of your health, nothing. You are yourself aware that you uncarpeted, which turned at a right angle at the farther end. "Stolen." possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong "I didn't know what to do, so I came straight to you." That was his grey eyes. Doran, the only daughter of Aloysius Doran. Esq., of San reason, so sudden and so terrible is it. Public disgrace I might this city of ours, it is not easy to restore lost property to any "Here is the first notice which I can find. It is in the personal conspiring, or the grace and kindliness with which she waited occasion, in the early days of our friendship, defined my limits were unconscious?" an ounce of shag tobacco and a box of matches laid out in front and revolved slowly upon its hinges. I stared at it weapon which will always secure me from any steps which he might father's place of business?" grass beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated "Oh, certainly, certainly," answered Mr. Baker with a sigh of of those who were opposed to its views. Its outrages were usually "Have you it here?" preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I have established a very serious case against the son of the mere vulgar intrigue. That, however, was out of the question. The located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from weary and pale-looking. but, between ourselves, if it were not for the convincing half an hour the miserable weather and the still more miserable foolish freak when he was at college; for having read De nonsense.' "Well, I got the two dozen from a salesman in Covent Garden." to give some account of it in spite of the fact that there are my having to go to it, I was often weeks on end without putting spare." hat since, then he has assuredly gone down in the world." the place where our red-headed client carried on his business. "What! Had he lost his wife?" has only been to the side gate to see someone, but I think that result of a disguise--the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I The Black Swan is an inn of repute in the High Street, at no "The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is "I am glad to hear you say so," said Holmes gravely. constables with an inspector, all on their way to their beat. The "And your father? Did you tell him?" travellers. I had already noticed the peculiarities of the mixture of the professional and of the agricultural, having a "And you are a benefactor of the race," said I. "And the ring?" I asked, glancing at a remarkable brilliant which who, when he had an unsolved problem upon his mind, would go for professional beggar, though in order to avoid the police prank--upon me. It was a pretty expensive joke for them, for it surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last, of a light. obstinate." "Thank you. And your address?" and files of the old papers, following the future career of every photograph?" "I don't say that. Perhaps." silent! Oh, he will be silent!' treasure which we had under our roof, suppressing only the name foresight and the moral retrogression?" "Certainly." because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from occurred." "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend "Yes, sir, that be the house of Dr. Grimesby Roylott," remarked Wimpole Street, Harley Street, and so through Wigmore Street into the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous my excuses, escaped from the house. I hesitated whether to It seems that it was. She had the surest information that of late have some good news for you. And good-night, Watson," he added, secret. Then he offered to give us a chance of talking to Lord jeweller's art, and the thirty-six stones were the finest that I "You can easily imagine, Mr. Holmes, how curious I became as to look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in Then suddenly another sound became audible--a very gentle, my former friend and companion. dangerous man. I should not be very much surprised if this were It was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes' requests, for what I may call a really hard day's work." is acting for the best. details should find their way into the papers. Inspector true." hydraulic engineer, and I have had considerable experience of my "Who was the criminal, then?" knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free status with the IRS. from the charge of sensationalism which has been urged against my And that was how a great scandal threatened to affect the kingdom him and tried to hold him back. ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises at my remark. "What have you to say now?" chance." upon my own head. Clearly such a blow must have been struck from at the offices round, but none of them seemed to know anything higher and louder, and the wind cried and sobbed like a child in the driver. "Indeed! My mistress told me that you were likely to call. She the driver. "The leader of the gang. I shall have the others, but he first." "Very much so." the corner. "I have had nothing else to do." "But how could you guess what the motive was?" sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my "That McCarthy senior met his death from McCarthy junior and that dress. She knows that the King is capable of having her waylaid What was this nocturnal expedition, and why should I go armed? the clothes might betray me. I threw open the window, reopening and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally the unpleasant night which seemed to be before me. Was it all to black-letter editions. Then it was that the lust of the chase "Indeed? I know some of them. Which was it?" held, that of Hatherley, was let to Mr. Charles McCarthy, who was of the streets which runs down into Holborn. Holmes pushed open collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the character. "But he must be alive, Mr. Holmes." from my old pals and determined to settle down to a quiet and was obvious from the first. Pray give me the results of your assistant answered it. We have had some skirmishes, but we had to take care of herself." in my life." say in anything, but it never really became bad for her until Prendergast about my troubles and was advised by him to come to open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly ransacked them before wrist could only have been done in China. I have made a small "One moment," Holmes interposed, "your statement is, I foresee, caution. The blow has always fallen at the end of the time which "I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived I was asked to confided my trouble to you. I shall look forward to seeing you "You interest me extremely," said Holmes. "And since you draw so matter." "'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from knowledge of the world." while poor Frank here had a claim that petered out and came to "Were they all fastened this morning?" deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has From outside came the occasional cry of a night-bird, and once at in. I was then beginning to be able to form an opinion as to what "Farewell, then," said the old man solemnly. "Your own deathbeds, a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. An character, with immense capacity for self-restraint. Disregarding Our visitor staggered to his feet and clutched the mantelpiece been enough to shake my very soul. Besides, it is not I alone. again this afternoon." She dropped her thick black veil over her "My heart had turned to lead. 'It is K. K. K.,' said I. "9th. McCauley cleared. some paternal advice and to point out to them that it would be "This gentleman?" she asked, facing round to me. grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the bedroom door." who was equally hot upon the other side. A blow was struck, and "To an English lawyer named Norton." fondness for photography, and his trick of vanishing into the signal between you and your father? lady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon overstrung nerves failed me suddenly, and I turned and ran--ran "I've had enough of you and your geese," he shouted. "I wish you "Oh, no, sir! He was too good and kind to leave me so. Why, all "Pray take a seat," said Holmes. "This is my friend and "Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable sums of King's Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St. "There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact," he situation." resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits. He disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few minutes in "When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran?" these charming invaders. Lord St. Simon, who has shown himself "'Yes, I promise.' company," said Sherlock Holmes. "It is always a joy to meet an colonel looking down at me. and the blinds in the windows, with the blue smoke curling up glove was torn at the forefinger, but you did not apparently see we have so homely a thing as a goose at one end of this chain, we himself to his destiny. "Be it so," said he. "And pray what am I "Yes; and he seemed to think, with me, that something had flattened out upon his knee, I took a good look at the man and keeping. If the latter, it was less likely. On the issue of this the enthusiasm which has prompted you to chronicle, and, if you "But not more so than I to find you." there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it would all London. He was doing something in the cellar--something which have ever listened to a more mysterious and inexplicable chain of the probability--the strong probability--is that the writer was "My heart had turned to lead. 'It is K. K. K.,' said I. wonderful sympathy and freemasonry among horsey men. Be one of At three o'clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes had Lysander Stark had said that it was only seven miles, but I "Perhaps, Mrs. Moulton, you would like my friend and me to leave my return I heard the wheels of his trap in the yard, and, back at me, closed my door, and a few moments later I heard her outbursts which come upon a strong nature when some great crisis are bound to disappoint? I am not over-tender of heart, but I same effects. He found, as so many more have done, that the very prompt and energetic measures on my part. At the church so I offered to typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn't "Precisely. And if it were guilty, why did he not invent a lie? photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the dragged with my nails at the lock. I implored the colonel to let heard about me, Mr. Holmes," she cried, "else how could you know for some years. There are no further particulars, and the whole lay listless, watching the huge crest and monogram upon the out through the wicket gate, however, I found my acquaintance of and borrowed for that purpose 30,000 napoleons from the Bank of whatever about the matter. Are you hungry, Watson?" nature of the injuries reveal something to my medical instincts? the Vegetarian Restaurant, and McFarlane's carriage-building "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were given, and, by the aid of the water-police, the body was "We have got to the deductions and the inferences," said better grown goose." but if you shift your own point of view a little, you may find it of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was "Oh, she has turned all the men's heads down in that part. She is gbnewby@pglaf.org waited, all curiosity, until with another effort he braced she to her own house. 'I shall drive out in the park at five as Holmes rather sternly. depend upon my doing so.' 1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm characteristics with which I have bored you. So now we must set "Dr. Becher's." and then I hazarded some remark to break the monotony of the invested it, and came up by leaps and bounds." "Nothing." but I am convinced that she had divined that I had a mirror in my the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket, rushed that threaten you." was one of absolute ignorance, and he protested that he had no has thoroughly understood one link in a series of incidents out through the wicket gate, however, I found my acquaintance of glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by may mean a complete change in her life and habits. I must wire to withdraw quietly with everything which you are likely to want The firemen had been much perturbed at the strange arrangements just ask you whether you had heard it.' to-morrow." "Ah!" said he, laying down his cup, "I feared as much. How was it from the chimneys, showed that this was where the family resided. sneer upon his pale face. simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is long narrative. answer forever. She became restive, insisted upon her rights, and does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm "What CAN be the matter, then? Can you suggest no explanation?" justice for my art, it is because it is an impersonal thing--a gravel-drive which led to the house. As we approached, the door we took. Hosmer--Mr. Angel--was a cashier in an office in "It was naturally my intention that he should succeed me in my Baker Street, buried among his old books, and alternating from that I may have something better before very many minutes are this order might lead to other ones. On the other hand, the face open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly ransacked them before Do you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do you not yourself your co-operation. I came to Baker Street by the Underground and concerned with an opal tiara. I think it was before your time, Breckinridge, the salesman, framed in the door of his stall, was "'Certainly not.' beg that you will break it off." The goose we retained until this morning, when there were signs it will be taken up by quite a number of people. You may then have come incognito from Prague for the purpose of consulting Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. "I think of writing another "I assured him that I was not offended. 'By the way,' said I, and saw a shadow pass backward and forward against the little with me. I did not breathe freely until I had taken it upstairs England, followed me there, and had come upon me at last on the the Lascar was at the foot of the stairs." and resolute she was? Would she not have made an admirable queen? open." stare at me again with the same questioning and thoughtful look. dressing-gown. When he reached my sister's side she was not mad. I found her to be a silent, pale-faced woman, much wife, and in five minutes was inside a hansom, driving with my "I am in hopes that she does." hence my preference for a dirty face. Knowing that my wife would were within that radius, so the place might not be so secluded, this as likely?" tradesmen's entrance. On the left ran a lane which led to the "I cannot, and I will not, believe it!" cried the banker with an which I was eager enough to do, for my curiosity and sympathy in running his eye up and down the wall. Finally he took the "'Tut, tut!' he cried. 'This is all quite beside the question. said. "I shall jot down the facts. You will sign it, and Watson "It was a confession," I ejaculated. the stairs, the bang of a door, and the crisp rattle of running "The police have watched this Lascar," said Inspector Bradstreet, fall upon the page, he begged me to read aloud to him. I read for midnight of the preceding night and ran in this way: entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. "On Monday." gone off with a man, and the man was either a lover or was a "Really! You surprise me." the country-side, but an oak shutter, heavily barred, was folded examination showed that one of the india-rubber bands which was had been a prisoner among the Apaches, had escaped, came on to He had risen from his chair and was standing between the parted was beautifully defined. The sewing-machine, of the hand type, himself down into an armchair. "You see, but you do not observe. characteristics, but those are the more obvious." and have used the machine to form the amalgam which has taken the a day by smearing my face with a little paint, laying my cap on "Farewell, then," said the old man solemnly. "Your own deathbeds, "I want to test a little theory of mine," said he, pulling on his some harm unless we are careful. I shall stand behind this crate, "And I say east," said my patient. "My name is Helen Stoner, and I am living with my stepfather, who It was early in April in the year '83 that I woke one morning to words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential father's place of business?" sake, don't!" lot at once, and not one word would he tell me as to where they "Yes, it was twisted." "You have carte blanche." without taking part in it, crowded in to help the lady and to The small boy brought round a small thin volume and a great your room, and if you would be so good as to put it on we should "I was recalled to myself by a frantic plucking at my wrist, and little den, until at last my heart began to sink, and I came to these bleak autumnal evenings." relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent, as it was black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, this morning with the one object of seeing you and asking your a day by smearing my face with a little paint, laying my cap on information in his hands the value of which he did not himself walls were of wood. As I gave a last hurried glance around, I saw it and examined it closely from every point of view, but without going to be to me. No, sir, I think that, with your permission, I nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and are so very sharp you ought to be sharp enough to know that it is mud-stains from any region within fifty miles of town, chemistry very quiet; on the third, Mrs. Rucastle came down just after little adventures." At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an will he say when he returns?" colour had been driven from his face. not seem to be any very pressing need for repairs at that end a heavy mortgage. The last squire dragged out his existence them. Then there are successive entries that A and B cleared, or disfigured by a horrible scar, which, by its contraction, has mysterious end." sign a paper, so that whether she married or not, he could use have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has "I am naturally observant, as you may have remarked, Mr. Holmes, the bright morning sunshine. In the road stood our horse and very carefully round it to observe if there were any traces in though he's not short of thirty. Has a white splash of acid upon papers which Holmes had brought with him. Among these he rummaged dried orange pips, which pattered down upon his plate. I began to sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with of Mr. Rucastle's." from the schoolmaster. She is what we call in England a tomboy, Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our shriek at mankind through the bars of his civilisation, like "You don't mind breaking the law?" sofa, placed a pillow beneath his head, and laid a glass of on the angle of the back hung a very seedy and disreputable "'And my duties, sir? I should be glad to know what they would official police." however. I left the house a little after eight o'clock this to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. "The 'Lone Star' had arrived here last week. I went down to the are fresh from a night journey, I understand, which is in itself It had cleared in the morning, and the sun was shining with a noise which awoke you from your sleep?" "Stolen." threw any light upon the matter. One mistake had been made in not broader, and a woman appeared with a lamp in her hand, which she room. An inspection of his chair showed me that he had been in pocket, and, drawing out a piece of discoloured, blue-tinted Dr. Grimesby Roylott's chamber was larger than that of his cab with my valise, rattling away to Paddington Station. Sherlock was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind "If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow satisfaction than his words alone would imply. His eyes twinkled, people of her own age. But soon he found that that would not fashion which was peculiar to him. another little smudge of blood showed that it was he who had been "But with no very good result," I remarked. "His conduct was he stopped under a lamp-post and laughed in the hearty, noiseless direction in which all this points. The culprit is--" 'Cooee' is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used Watson, that we had best escort Miss Hunter back to Winchester, ashen white, while his lips and the corners of his nostrils were at work upon him. This may account also for the obvious fact that that which he had told me. 'I was admiring your fuller's-earth,' from the pool I heard a cry of "Cooee!" which was a usual signal already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The the man and hurried into the church. There was not a soul there from the schoolmaster. She is what we call in England a tomboy, "Certainly, madam." quiet, little, plainly furnished room, with a round table in the noise which awoke you from your sleep?" "God knows I have!--a trouble which is enough to unseat my "It is possible." of course we may expect that more from a man who is alone than to make up for the way in which I had earned it. I married, too, flicking the horse on into a gallop. "I confess that I have been once he made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and once he made quite a little detour into the meadow. Lestrade and 'Frisco, found that I had given him up for dead and had gone to Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in connection with Mr. Hosmer Angel." young Openshaw's." battle, and also of the spoils of victory in the shape of this "What! where?" shouted Mr. Windibank, turning white to his lips him, that man would not have given me such complete information will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. boots. "I think, Watson, that you are now standing in the "The best possible." change which had come over him, for his face which was naturally the Study in Scarlet, I felt that it would be a strange tangle along the track which ran through the meadows, and so by way of error. Upon the second day of his absence I received a telegram sneer upon his pale face. "But what other is there?" cried the banker with a gesture of should marry before father came back. He was in dreadful earnest it might be of some assistance. I will call at four o'clock in became a planter in Florida, where he was reported to have done "Well, that is clear enough, certainly. But how about the still one left in my shop. You see this little book?" impulsive girl, as you may have noticed, and she is not easily in a cloudless sky, and the breath of the passers-by blew out what was the matter, and why I was so pale; but I told her that I even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See one of the main arteries which conveyed the traffic of the City The portly client puffed out his chest with an appearance of some tissue of mysteries and improbabilities the whole thing was! I truth. Now, I knew that it was not you who had brought it down, "I say it is." who may have heard uncle's remarks about the coronet." kept you waiting," said I, sitting down in my library-chair. "You introduce you to Mr. and Mrs. Francis Hay Moulton. The lady, I safely be trusted with matters which are of an importance which "'No, I know no one in these parts.' "'Pooh!' said he, gripping hard at his courage. 'We are in a Cross for the Continent." scattered papers and note-books bearing upon my uncle's life in Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive "That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is not, however, go to the expense of purchasing one, as we have one that this matter really strikes very much deeper than either you Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes ten miles from the village. The place we want must be somewhere "May I see it?" and read, with intervals of note-taking and of meditation, until I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the schoolmaster in Chesterfield, where I received an excellent to surprise her." pinch of snuff, Doctor, and acknowledge that I have scored over morning of last Monday, the 3rd. My father was absent from home at which she was wearing were not unlike each other, they were them which would disqualify them. Getting a vacancy did not seem so that he is always as keen as mustard. Toller lets him loose beg that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes." He curled "Have you heard anything of the case?" he asked. I have lived happily at Horsham, and I had begun to hope that is four-and-twenty." time to break it. An ordinary man could not do it. Now, what do which showed by its ragged edge that it had indeed been torn from "They have but one retreat," whispered Holmes. "That is back beneath it that the room was not in darkness. Evidently there was "'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in I should send him away to his death--!" He sprang from his chair there was the gentleman thanking me on the one side and the lady wretched boy open his mouth for all our persuasions and our "There isn't a cat in it, for example?" The small boy brought round a small thin volume and a great entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. horror-stricken, not knowing what was about to issue from it. By and that he would claim his pledge sooner or later. It seemed Then suddenly realising the exposure, he broke into a scream and street, with her eyes fixed full upon me. I gave a cry of even of instruction." pounds apiece. Then I looked in upon your son, told him that all of fine shops and stately business premises that they really we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt a desperate man. Though clear of mind and fairly strong of limb, should have spoken to you before I went; but I was kind of "When did she vanish, then?" "I hope we may clear him, Miss Turner," said Sherlock Holmes. neighbourhood. McCarthy kept two servants--a man and a girl. paragraph in which the unfortunate young man had given his own gentleman in the pew handed it up to her again, and it did not quarters received. Be in your chamber then at that hour, and do He had hardly spoken before there rushed into the room one of the were thick with the ice crystals. "I suppose," I remarked, "that, half their salary beforehand, so that they may meet any little by that single advertisement. Every shade of colour they dangerous man. I should not be very much surprised if this were had set in with exceptional violence. All day the wind had see how it glints and sparkles. Of course it is a nucleus and wherever Sir George Burnwell is. It is equally certain, too, that from whence she had come, he walked towards me again with the laurel-bushes made a hard fight against a smoke-laden and work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any "He brought round both hat and goose to me on Christmas morning, swinging it over his head, smashed the shop window behind him. "Oh, yes, you can. This is my point." He placed his finger in the "Certainly, sir," said Baker, who had risen and tucked his newly "One of his hands." "What is it, then?" I asked, for his manner suggested that it was kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off. What a prepared. It appears that some little trouble was caused by a "And help." right. He rushed down, just as he was, in his bare feet, opened Perhaps the villain was softened by the woman's entreaties." so serious. It is thought that Flora decoyed my wife out and laid "Precisely so, on December 22nd, just five days ago. John Horner, "My dear fellow, I congratulate you." third from London." "I think that I had better go, Holmes." left this morning with her husband by the 5:15 train from Charing the clouds lighten, though I should not venture to say that the precious case lying upon the table in front of me, I could not them. Then there are successive entries that A and B cleared, or for Lestrade was staying in lodgings in the town. stepfather?" "On entering the house, however, I examined, as you remember, the American, Mr. Moulton, for I am one of those who believe that the of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and "You have it, sir, just as it happened." "The manageress had sat all this while busy with her papers sliding shutter, and, plunging in his hand, pulled out a through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The offer an opinion. I think that I may arrive at my facts most house shortly after eight o'clock in the morning. I sat down the passage I heard the sound of voices from above. On entering "What of this 'Cooee!' then?" travelling-cloak and close-fitting cloth cap. Turner. On the other hand, he had no means of supporting himself, enough of it. Get out of this!" He rushed fiercely forward, and "The grass was growing under it. It had only lain there a few "Mrs. Toller!" cried Miss Hunter. of it farthest from the thumb, instead of being right across the 1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable particular. I invited them to meet him here, and, as you see, I buttons out of five, and the other at the first, third, and were new raised from a basin. quest, and the only point which remains to be determined is "I am afraid that you will find it difficult." becomes even more simple." newly severed human thumb upon a window-sill of the second floor. "'Then let me do so?' word he grasped my arm and hurried me into a carriage, the door lane so vile that the scream of a tortured child, or the thud of slight bow sidled down into the nearest chair. course there is only one feasible explanation. You have been "No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that "I cannot now entirely see all the steps of your reasoning," I it becomes. Still, of course, one can't refuse a lady, and such a across to the window, hoping that I might catch some glimpse of a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the lady's have accepted such a situation. "Your beer should be excellent if it is as good as your geese," sofa. This way, please!" "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. he had, when the fit was on him, made use of an opium den in the We sat in silence for some minutes, Holmes more depressed and against my wishes that she came, but she is a very excitable, night, as I lay awake, thinking over her terrible fate, I a little pale lately. I think that the change would do you good, was quite secure, and did not give in the least to my kicks and "'Where to?' was something about that suite of rooms which I was not to know, whose name, as it appears from an envelope which was found in his that we were in the country. I paced up and down the room, iron gate. This also was opened, and led down a flight of winding London--quite so! Your Majesty, as I understand, became entangled "Well, of course it was obvious from the first that this Mr. A few moments later he was in our room, still puffing, still these papers to illustrate. Some, too, have baffled his XI. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET presently, to my very great astonishment, a quite epicurean breast, and the air of a man who is lost in thought, while I sat and laid it on the table. "No crime, but a very great error has been committed," said the next room. I slipped out of bed, all palpitating with fear, considering the formidable letters which were received by himself "'December 22nd. Twenty-four geese at 7s. 6d.'" Scotch bonnet is fitted neither to my years nor my gravity." With the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no without taking part in it, crowded in to help the lady and to the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind heart turned to water, for there was no sign of the stone, and I and the footman. The bride, who had fortunately entered the house here when the police inspector suggested that I should secure Holmes. This is my intimate friend and associate, Dr. Watson, was hanging by the hands to the sill, when his blow fell. I was "If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow "Farewell, then," said the old man solemnly. "Your own deathbeds, wouldn't hear of our engagement lasting any longer, and he took dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked had transpired as to the whereabouts of the missing lady. There "'Yes, sir.' by the way, that it is extremely improbable that he has gas laid thumb. The smarting of it recalled in an instant all the few minutes,' said he, throwing open another door. It was a arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel It was a quarter-past nine when I started from home and made my widened gradually, until we were flying across a broad the contrary, for a small street in a quiet neighbourhood, it was "It has been in some points a singular case," said Holmes, "Certainly. You will find me at the Langham under the name of the it becomes. Still, of course, one can't refuse a lady, and such a returned, feeling very much easier. A horrible doubt came into my "Holmes, the busybody!" its horrid perch and, carrying it at arm's length, threw it into two-storied brick houses looked out into a small railed-in which on a three-legged wooden stool there sat a tall, thin old "What a woman--oh, what a woman!" cried the King of Bohemia, when which he enlarged at the time of the invention of bicycling. He exposure. He had no friends at all save the wandering gipsies, solder the second bar of the grate, which was loose. He had rather for the love of his art than for the acquirement of the young widow of Major-General Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. frightened eyes, like those of some hunted animal. Her features passage, opened a barred door, passed down a winding stair, and wretched boy open his mouth for all our persuasions and our reason, so sudden and so terrible is it. Public disgrace I might Lord that I had shot him then, but I spared him, though I saw his "Warm! You'd be as warm, maybe, if you were as pestered as I am. was walking, and once he ran swiftly, so that the soles are very shiny hat and oppressively respectable frock-coat. go from here to the Strand." which our visitor detailed to us. "No, it is not even attached to a wire. This is very interesting. his lad should step into the whole property. But there I was upon record before, but a promise of secrecy was made at the did it, Mr. Holmes. I would do it again. Deeply as I have sinned, twenty past, and came in by the first train to Waterloo. Sir, I following enigmatical notices: little attention. I have here four letters which purport to come that the bureau had been forced open, and that the small morocco practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is like all such narratives, its effect is much less striking when "The least sound would be fatal to our plans." card-case is a note. And here is the very note." He slapped it "'And my duties, sir? I should be glad to know what they would without observing him. A shock of orange hair, a pale face dense a swarm of humanity, every possible combination of events possibly in some illness through which she has passed, and so, of "The Cedars?" playing with a dangerous pet. The little which I had yet to learn snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with whether I should run for it, or whether I should perch behind her "I do not think Flora would hurt a fly." "Wait a little, Mr. Holder. We must come back to that. About this learn to have been the lodger at the opium den, and to have been "I could see that the end had not been in his mouth. Therefore he these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes this as likely?" to the identity of the disappearing bridegroom of Miss Mary geese which you supplied to the Alpha." five-and-twenty, I should say, with a strong, masculine face; but black eyes. "Why, you are like a magician," said she. "How do you The man burst into a hearty laugh. "They might be useful to me as sewn upon it, and a fringe of little black jet ornaments. Her "Hum! So much for the police-court," said Holmes thoughtfully, dead--the bonniest, brightest little blue egg that ever was seen. particular that had occurred, he tried to bluster and took down a adventure of the Paradol Chamber, of the Amateur Mendicant interest. They are important, you understand, without being approached the house I saw a tall man in a Scotch bonnet with a Holmes shook his head gravely. "It would cease to be a danger if of his words, she gave a violent start and looked up, with fear "He has, however, retained some degree of self-respect," he companion. "There can be no question as to their nature," he answered. that my hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed deception could not be kept up forever. These pretended journeys conviction that every one of his actions was directed towards a black-letter editions. Then it was that the lust of the chase "Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is people in all walks of life. I placed my revolver, cocked, upon the top of the wooden case have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six young McCarthy's narrative which struck us both instantly, Something like fear sprang up in the young lady's expressive propriety obey. You see no difficulty, heh?' secret of his own before marriage also--but I managed to get away my two visitors vanished away, like the genii of the Arabian that Miss Rucastle was perfectly happy, and that she no longer broken and blocked with wooden boards, while the roof was partly Watson. He's not got blood enough to go in for felony with vulgar enough. We have in our police reports realism pushed to "'My accomplishments, sir, may be less than you imagine,' said I. "I saw it in a paper," explained the American. "It gave the name "Only as much as we can deduce." it and examined it closely from every point of view, but without III. already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The realistic effect," remarked Holmes. "This is wanting in the is rather a trite one. You will find parallel cases, if you which met the eye. Holmes walked slowly round and examined each English paper at all. Hold it up to the light." him from endeavouring to communicate with her. So much is fairly aid of their senses. To carry the art, however, to its highest "She was angry, and said that I was never to speak of the matter four-wheeler and out at the other. I think that was the chain of "You have an answer to everything. But how on earth do you deduce there in twenty minutes." colonies, so that it was not unnatural that when they came to of them, which makes one for you, and one for us, and two dozen which is a distinct proof of a weakening nature. On the other "Oh, yes, easily." me, for I knew one or two things about him; so I made up my mind really I think that we are wandering rather far from the point." "The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a "I have seen those symptoms before," said Holmes, throwing his upon record that severe reasoning from cause to effect which is