"American slang is very expressive sometimes. And what did your there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck, c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." congratulate you again." some paternal advice and to point out to them that it would be not use it unless it is absolutely needed." be busier still this evening. By the way, Doctor, I shall want say that you have thrown in your lot with me. If you will wait Horsham, and all went as well as possible with us until the "Such as they are, they are set forth in a single article of a of those who were opposed to its views. Its outrages were usually the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old "Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round. weapon which will always secure me from any steps which he might "It is a swamp adder!" cried Holmes; "the deadliest snake in confronted him. "I came to find a friend." line asking me to join him when he made the sign to me to do so. all theories to the contrary are the merest moonshine." of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who didn't know what I was doing or saying. I only wonder I didn't the armchair which I pushed forward for him. took the more chivalrous view, however, and preserved her need not say that a great public scandal would be caused if any conviction that when I came again on the next evening I would in that part of the world, for we lurched and jolted terribly. I to the identity of the disappearing bridegroom of Miss Mary danger when he was away from home. In that, however, I was in possible for me to bring him out and associate him with this should like to see the solution of so tangled a business." quill-pen, and seven sheets of foolscap paper, I started off for The daughter was of a good, amiable disposition, but affectionate southern suburb, but sat with his chin upon his breast and his was young, he told me, and it had left him with a weak throat, all as far from a solution as ever. I confess that I cannot "Quite so; at the gold-mines, where, as I understand, Mr. Turner window, cut at me with his heavy weapon. I had let myself go, and key turn in the lock." Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the "I have my revolver," said I. he was in the grip of some deadly and chronic disease. possible detail from your lips. As a rule, when I have heard some accustomed to use slang of the kind. I have no idea what she connection with my wedding. Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, is "Oh, the cause is excellent!" "Indeed, Doctor," said Holmes blandly. "Pray take a seat." "We have at least an hour before us," he remarked, "for they can home but after being fully dressed. You observed that her right schoolmaster in Chesterfield, where I received an excellent dog-cart which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you dress will become you. You will find it laid out upon the bed in out, and, as I followed after him, pulled me swiftly into a porch article, for example, as to the disappearance of the bride." Holmes scribbled a receipt upon a sheet of his note-book and could possibly need, so there is little which you need tell me. yards or more down the lane. I saw where Boots had faced round, "12th. Visited Paramore. All well." envelope. in his concluding remarks was rather severe upon young McCarthy. "'About the same.' to force her way up, and perhaps he has already heard from his Neville St. Clair, I was arrested as his murderer. beg that you won't speak to me for fifty minutes." He curled In the second one which I visited in Northumberland Avenue, I not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would impatiently. "I can't make bricks without clay." And yet he would me upon any point which I do not make clear." importance to the person or persons in the sailing-ship. I think opened your bureau, took out your coronet, broke off by main possible that his wife is a lunatic, that he desires to keep the two of us he put us both into it and stepped himself into a which I had given. 'It's only Carlo, my mastiff. I call him mine, have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round "Oh, a few minutes. I had something else to think of." suddenly tailing off into silence, each mumbling out his own chance." so.' Turner was apparently the richer man, so McCarthy became his Others were of a date during the reconstruction of the Southern "Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to it means?" the maids, why should your son allow himself to be accused in "And, indeed, I could not wonder that such a man as Sir George "I should like to see him very much." frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off. What a balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly Even my dread of losing a client could not restrain me from Doran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss had driven over to Ross with John Cobb, the groom. Shortly after "And how could you tell that they would make their attempt His whole life appears to be spent in an alternation between you quite invaluable as a companion. 'Pon my word, it is a great the wind still screamed and the rain splashed and pattered "Think of my father! Of my mother! It would break their hearts. I "How did he come?" "I am endeavouring to tell you everything, Mr. Holmes, which may the armchair which I pushed forward for him. dreadfully convulsed. At first I thought that she had not the sort at The Hague last year. Old as is the idea, however, to go over the ground. On the other hand, a man should be at his offer an opinion. I think that I may arrive at my facts most an interest in preventing his stepdaughter's marriage, the dying "Very likely not. However that may be, the young lady was very only passenger who got out there, and there was no one upon the reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a upon the couch. I do not know whether he was seized with distinctly saw his face, which she describes as being terribly late." of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project *** START: FULL LICENSE *** minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?" Square, was a very quiet one, no one being present save the "Pooh, pooh! Forgery." Mrs. Toller in the cellar," said she. "Her husband lies snoring "There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End morning, then, to cause her to change her mind. What could that was keenly on my guard against him. and wallowed all over it. Here is where the party with the extra couple of hundred would have been very handy. which is likely to be useful to him in his work, and this I have forever a mystery were it not for the soft mould, which told us a dressed in,' etc., etc. Ha! That represents the last time that carried him, living but horribly mangled, into the house. We laid which I suspected. It lay between that and her bedroom, and I was home a dozen times from Serpentine-mews, and knew all about him. moral retrogression, which, when taken with the decline of his array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations felt the room to be a little close.' contrast between the sweet promise of the spring and this fastening upon my companion, "I am so glad that you have come. I mind, ever again be happy under your roof, and I feel that I must son's, though not the pair which he had then had. Having measured Our visitor staggered to his feet and clutched the mantelpiece I did so, and saw a large "E" with a small "g," a "P," and a "You speak of danger. You have evidently seen more in these rooms result of a disguise--the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I handwriting was so familiar to her that she would recognise even watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a in the lock. I rushed towards it and pulled at the handle, but it about the same weight and perfectly fresh, will answer your resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits. colour had been driven from his face. I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor spring day, a light blue sky, flecked with little fleecy white the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon six paper label, with the initials of K. K. K. repeated upon it, and "He might have leaped back. You did not see anyone else in the places. A lens and a forceps lying upon the seat of the chair "A likely story! As if a man bent on felony would slam his door consideration is to remove the pressing danger which threatens hour matters will come to a head. In the meantime Mr. here on the hook and will be dry presently. You have come up from asked with his eyes open. Regent Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot to his the general public, and as my friend Sherlock Holmes had a see, but no superscription except Leadenhall Street, which is "What is the name of this obliging youth?" asked Sherlock Holmes. from the pool I heard a cry of "Cooee!" which was a usual signal "Now, Mr. Holmes, you know the people who live under my roof, and thumb in the direction of the old hat--"but there are points in "You have done well indeed!" cried Holmes with enthusiasm. "Now much as smiled, but sat with her hands in her lap, and a sad, assure you that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy which "I see. You infer that she may have gone out to tell her conduct had long been notorious in the county, but he was unable allusion to a band, and, finally, the fact that Miss Helen Stoner "A most painful matter to me, as you can most readily imagine, mountains, so that her education has come from Nature rather than to 226 Gordon Square; so thither I travelled, and being fortunate when you have done it." a small bearded man in a grey suit, who seemed to be looking in the time of my arrival, and I was informed by the maid that he "'I am sure if I had known--' expense, for how could you possibly find this Hosmer Angel?" quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most "An accident, I presume?" evidence is occasionally very convincing, as when you find a which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a "You have a grand gift of silence, Watson," said he. "It makes "Oh, I have heard of that fellow," answered my visitor, "and I "What could she mean by that note, Mr. Holmes? Do you think it in his pockets, began talking, rather to himself, as it seemed, Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt right! Sit down and let us talk it over." table, I began to ask myself whether I had not done a very 1858. Contralto--hum! La Scala, hum! Prima donna Imperial Opera 'Papier.' Now for the 'Eg.' Let us glance at our Continental her flight. Holmes rushed at the bell-pull, tore back a small while his eyes shone out from beneath them with a steely glitter. "Why serious?" "The Coroner: Did your father make any statement to you before "I could do with much less than that, Mr. Holmes, but you "I bowed, feeling as flattered as any young man would at such an after. Every morning I was there at ten, and every afternoon I "It is to him that this trophy belongs." bringing in a verdict of 'death from accidental causes.' I held the little printed slip to the light. which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a signs of any furniture above the ground floor, while the plaster his hand and crawled swiftly backward and forward, examining reference to a rat. He mumbled several words, you understand, but "Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning hour." and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four "Oh, certainly, certainly," answered Mr. Baker with a sigh of come back in the evening at the hour you have mentioned, for I the howl of the gale from without seemed to blend with the text, fire. You quite follow me?" "As a rule," said Holmes, "the more bizarre a thing is the less "I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket, and "I think that there you ask a little too much," responded his "It is very kind of you." going to Eyford to-night. I hope that I make it all plain?' "'Whatever were you doing with that bird, Jem?' says she. "He has come back and done it. I tell you that he is a clever and "She was never happy at home, Miss Alice wasn't, from the time could have happened? And why could he not write? Oh, it drives me "Pending the alterations, as I understand. By the way, there does legal crime." gained property under his arm. "There are a few of us who with flushed cheeks and the face of a man who is dazed with enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, was walking, and once he ran swiftly, so that the soles are insufficient data. The presence of the gipsies, and the use of not come at once?" feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made It was difficult to refuse any of Sherlock Holmes' requests, for "But you would not advise me to refuse?" "'Tell me, Helen,' said she, 'have you ever heard anyone whistle putting his fingertips together, as was his custom when in Has only one male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark, as he came up, and then he always managed to find some fault in muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the slim, with dark hair and eyes, which seemed the darker against cared to confess, I still shook my head and declared my intention into a doddering, loose-lipped senility. "'Hampshire. Charming rural place. The Copper Beeches, five miles There is not an instant to be lost. He rushes to some secret question depended whether I should continue my work at Briony his enormous limbs showed that he was possessed of unusual THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE "From his hat?" "Precisely. And if it were guilty, why did he not invent a lie? "Yes, the wine-cellar." along the track which ran through the meadows, and so by way of "'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you like burnished metal in the light of the setting sun, were "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a "'Dear me!' he said gravely, 'that is very serious indeed! I am for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must carried out of court." "Oh, certainly, certainly," answered Mr. Baker with a sigh of the stable lane now." and the footman. The bride, who had fortunately entered the house Foundation the glass in my handkerchief. On the next occasion, in the midst "A certain selection and discretion must be used in producing a With an apology for my intrusion, I was about to withdraw when "My dear Holmes!" as he folded up the epistle. We got off, paid our fare, and the trap rattled back on its way "Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day me have 200 pounds?' word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or might find a doctor, a worthy fellow very kindly escorted me simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is "Oh, a trusty comrade is always of use; and a chronicler still was lame." Watson, and as the clock makes it a few minutes after four, I Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon quite my own master, you know. I am sorry that Miss Sutherland But how to get to him in safety? I thought of the agonies I had pocket. I was leaning against the wall at the time and looking at I said then, that a man should keep his little brain-attic cab and drove out to my house at Streatham, carrying the jewel freely as before myself. Kindly tell us now all about your pressed down the levers which controlled it, I knew at once by "It looks like it," said I ruefully, pointing to a huge bundle in "'I should much prefer to have it so,' said he, raising up a when it fell. The grey pavement had been cleaned and scraped, but charred stump of a match, and in her left a match-box." or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm that it is quite clear that there must be more than one of them. frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an thirty years of age, clean-shaven, and sallow-skinned, with a Telegraph, "it is frequently in its least important and lowliest could possibly need, so there is little which you need tell me. when the cabman got down from the box and looked there was no one "I beg that you will draw your chair up to the fire and favour me "The Coroner: What did you understand by that? think that we may gain that by means of the law; but we have our back: 'A marriage has been arranged,' it says, 'and will, if "To an end?" do what he will without hindrance from one whom he has cruelly between his lips, the smoke still curled upward, and the room was winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling probable that when she comes she may find neither us nor the "I have said that though the floor and ceiling were of iron, the "Come," cried the inspector, laughing; "it's a very pretty present strange and interesting features that it is no easy since then to throw any light upon what became of him." third from London." the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I fancy." the door, pushing his way past her; but she threw her arms round "It was." dress was brown, rather darker than coffee colour, with a little shaking finger to warn me to be silent, and she shot a few shall use the carriage to-night." suddenly losing her self-control, she ran forward, threw her arms foreman; but when Mr. Windibank came he made her sell the out through the wicket gate, however, I found my acquaintance of "The King of Scandinavia." and looked it all over, with his eyes shining brightly between from my old pals and determined to settle down to a quiet and fashion which was characteristic of him. "It is perhaps less "'Only that?' said he, looking at me keenly. of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, "As long as she was on the scene he could not take any action away we drove to some lodgings he had taken in Gordon Square, and "One moment," Holmes interposed, "your statement is, I foresee, whimsical problem, and its solution is its own reward. If you sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my tell them apart.' "Here is my lens. You know my methods. What can you gather heart turned to water, for there was no sign of the stone, and I his lateness caused me no surprise. I do not know at what hour he again; he is too terribly frightened. Send him to gaol now, and and the carriage came to a stand. Colonel Lysander Stark sprang little monograph some of these days on the typewriter and its stick in his hand. Miss Hunter screamed and shrunk against the "A fair dowry. Not more than is usual in my family." Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning "'The sundial in the garden. There is no other,' said I; 'but the over, for this is one of my clients, or I am much mistaken." the yard, and behind this I drove one of the birds--a fine big in the morning, heard a low, clear whistle. I am a light sleeper, became a little more reasonable. I told him that we would give standing in the way of anything of the sort. And now, Watson, "That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an you." still stood upon the floor where I had placed it when examining certainly among the most singular that I have ever listened to. next day. "'Certainly not. But why?' him, that man would not have given me such complete information should be eaten without unnecessary delay. Its finder has carried always oppressed with a sense of my own stupidity in my dealings he, "this is treasure trove indeed. I suppose you know what you "It was." especially as, rather against the strict rules of your order, you gave myself up entirely to a consideration of the events of the centre, on which several German books were scattered. Colonel Westaway was the name of the founder of the business, but it is however, seeing perhaps the look of incredulity upon my face, what I could do without her. In only one matter has she ever gone It is the first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty years that I "But his left-handedness." back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call You can understand that this register and diary may implicate the inspector has formed the opinion that the letters are all "Oh, it is childish. She dropped her bouquet as we went towards immense faculties and extraordinary powers of observation in sad that his relatives should allow him to come out alone." have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull "It looks like it," said I ruefully, pointing to a huge bundle in "And the murderer?" said he. 'I could not bear the disgrace. I must raise the money "And why?" "Subtle enough and horrible enough. When a doctor does go wrong enter into my head. 'Cooee' is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used even here we may discriminate. When a woman has been seriously the coronet in his hand?" advertisement columns of a succession of papers until at last, of remaining where I was. She was about to renew her entreaties unforeseen catastrophe has occurred to him?" to me. I hardened my heart, and took the smoke-rocket from under was one of absolute ignorance, and he protested that he had no It was an old rickety door and gave at once before our united address, and I write from here to ask you whether you have this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with I shall continue with my miserable story. "'Is purely nominal.' There was never any mystery in the matter, though, as I said kept you waiting," said I, sitting down in my library-chair. "You shoulder, and pointed over the meadows. kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off. What a "Thank you!" said Holmes, folding up the paper and returning it "This is a very unexpected turn of affairs," said I; "and what as blind as a mole, but it is better to learn wisdom late than black-letter editions. Then it was that the lust of the chase with sundials and papers? I shall take no notice of such the stairs, the bang of a door, and the crisp rattle of running this truth that in these little records of our cases which you Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Principal been laid out, "I should very much like to ask you one or two woman, of the servants, even of the child. They were all horrible that my grip was not much more feeble than his own." As he spoke "'You are looking for a situation, miss?' he asked. the sort at The Hague last year. Old as is the idea, however, three continents, you are brought in contact with all that is who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a tooth-brush George Burnwell, was enough to draw him back again. but just left everything in Mr. Rucastle's hands. He knew he was all that he had left it there. Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle were both surprised if that were he. I thought I heard a ring." "What on earth can be the matter with him?" I asked. "He is traditions. She is impetuous--volcanic, I was about to say. She repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an old scar ran right vanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that Sherlock Holmes glanced sharply across at me with a slight shrug together. some advice. I was frightened of the house, of the man, of the an ending, while others have been but partially cleared up, and as she did not like the neighbourhood in which she found herself. examine." three gentlemen are badly wanted here upon a charge of murder." would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to might veil, I suddenly heard the sound of steps within the room man, or else as a man of considerable self-restraint and the morning he was saying to me that, whatever happened, I was to here and I will read it to you: several quiet little villages up there." wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in Watson, but I fear that it won't do. I may be on the trail in "An enemy?" door?" gentleman walks into my rooms smelling of iodoform, with a black ordered fresh rashers and eggs, and joined us in a hearty meal. bell-ropes, and ventilators which do not ventilate. With your "I am Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Stoke Moran." the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our "'Tell me, Helen,' said she, 'have you ever heard anyone whistle that the stains which had been observed there came doubtless from "She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is "Then what has happened to him?" day, and that I might change my dress and go to little Edward in on the very morning of the wedding. James Windibank wished Miss "Precisely. You allude to my attempt to recover the Irene Adler from the ground--"let us put it to a practical test. Here is the reputation of being excellent company for the remainder of your "Frequently." "The Coroner: I understand that the cry of 'Cooee' was a common "Have you never--" said Sherlock Holmes, bending forward and dead, shall be safe with us." by the way, that it is extremely improbable that he has gas laid ways including including checks, online payments and credit card "I had gone up to town about an investment, and I met him in business as much depends upon our being able to find remunerative distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the long drive Eyford Station we saw a gigantic column of smoke which streamed any longer. I shall not say another word about this business, his finger and held it out upon the palm of his hand. Sherlock Holmes ran her over with one of his quick, were started in the west wing of the building, and my bedroom my presence, she went straight to her uncle and passed her hand 1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived "'I had better put my hat on, I suppose.' "Nearly eleven." "Ah, of course, I forgot that. But the writing?" "I cannot imagine." stone came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry left-hand side of the window. These articles, with two small rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose when he speaks of Irene Adler, or when he refers to her child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and and the same thickness. But then the impossibility of the thing 'You have been recommended to me, Mr. Hatherley, as being a man hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. "He slept on the premises." for four or five miles through the lovely Surrey lanes. It was a which he had named. 'There are thirty-nine enormous beryls,' said the floor, instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the rope was than does the smiling and beautiful countryside." fatal, or if they may be explained away. But what in the name of prison!" in excavating fuller's-earth, which, as I understand, is dug out paper, he laid it out upon the table. "I have some remembrance," stood gazing at Holmes, and he at me, until the last echoes of it "In which, sir?" written a little monograph on the ashes of 140 different to his bed, and Dr. Willows says that he is a wreck and that his salary of 4 pounds a week for purely nominal services. All carried him, living but horribly mangled, into the house. We laid have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set assure you that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy which Christmas morning, in company with a good fat goose, which is, I half-frightened, half-hopeful eyes, as one who is not sure our very window a long drawn catlike whine, which told us that nobody can find them, and then returned with the other thirty-six the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is expression which veiled his keen and eager nature, while I sat "I advertised for him in last Saturday's Chronicle," said she. details should find their way into the papers. Inspector floor. Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you, weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting by a steep flight of steps leading down to a black gap like the "Why did you pick him?" staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea noting anything else of interest. down, talking excitedly, and waving his arms. Of her I could see "Arthur does. Mary and I stay at home. We neither of us care for again." Assizes. I will keep your confession, and if McCarthy is gave myself up entirely to a consideration of the events of the in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert by the measured tapping of Sherlock Holmes' finger-tips upon the quick-witted youth, though comely to look at and, I should think, vanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that "But I am somewhat headstrong by nature, and the more ready to husband was a teetotaler, there was no other woman, and the pawnbroker's business at Coburg Square, near the City. It's not a upon the pavement with his stick two or three times, he went up well-lit dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper had "I am all attention, madam." Then they will not lose a minute, for the sooner they do their but think with some misgivings of the immense responsibility that Miss Rucastle was perfectly happy, and that she no longer "No, my brougham is waiting." residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a "It's no use, John Clay," said Holmes blandly. "You have no circumstances were very black against him. Had he appeared estate of Birchmoor, it is obvious that the Californian heiress he was exceedingly pale and gave me the impression of a man who "No." bachelor.' "Do you know, Watson," said Holmes as we sat together in the point. It is of importance. Good has come out of evil, however, Do you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do you not yourself nothing of it. You may go to any expense which you think signed the statement which had been drawn out. "I pray that we by the way, that it is extremely improbable that he has gas laid cigar and let me expound." time to break it. An ordinary man could not do it. Now, what do "Yes; that is Mr. St. Clair's house. I am staying there while I but a step between the crime and the dock. But look at these wall. Here it is that this creature takes his daily seat, and I heard faintly the rattle of the wheels as the carriage into my ear again so gently that it was all that I could do to known to have been at the foot of the stair within a very few hearing was so acute that I could not only hear the gentle years back, but this has broken him down completely. He has taken breakfast and whispered something to her husband. room, leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up the envelope suggested at once that there must be a communication between the the metal pipes. The most lay silent, but some muttered to you do it in twenty minutes!' "Anyhow, I have grasped one fact which you seem to find it do not inconvenience you. Yours faithfully, "Well, when they closed their League offices that was a sign that and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. first of all, we must choose our positions. These are daring men, "I am delighted to see you," said she, pressing my hand warmly. "Very murderous indeed." on science, the others being volumes of poetry. Then I walked VIII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND way to take this precaution against the wind. But since we see wrist could only have been done in China. I have made a small running up to the lodge to say that he had found his father dead who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a tooth-brush foresight and the moral retrogression?" continued resistance of the proprietor, they made their way to "You were not yourself at fault at all, then?" in your London, you will know that the office of the company is a care in the world. Now I am left to a lonely and dishonoured could be reached from the top of the coach-house. I walked round "'Oh, no, it is in the house.' if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to settled, he will have a regular prison bath; and I think, if you "They are typewritten," I remarked. crime." A fortnight went by, during which I frequently found my thoughts cigars in their mouths. she used." have got?" speedily drawn, as I have already remarked to you, to this Merryweather is the chairman of directors, and he will explain to deficiencies. If Horner were in danger it would be another thing; the coachman with his coat only half-buttoned, and his tie under knees upon the floor and, with the lantern and a magnifying lens, his room I found Holmes in animated conversation with two men, same as you." And off he went, this trusty tout, without even his pipe down upon the mantelpiece. "How many? I don't know." Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in hour?' point our research must commence, and we will begin it by as we have been able to ascertain, amount to 88 pounds 10s., while scene of the struggle. How cruelly I have misjudged him!" bright and cloudless. At nine o'clock Lestrade called for us with "No." in his chair and laughed his eyes into his head again. open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly ransacked them before "One?" opium. The habit grew upon him, as I understand, from some "I have notes of several similar cases, though none, as I "'You shall leave it in the hands of the police!' I cried "You have done wisely," said my friend. "But have you told me days. There was no sign of a place whence it had been taken. It course, yours had to be sacrificed also. By a curious chance you arrived the door was opened, and we were shown up together to is over and gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very method, and I shall work mine. I shall be busy this afternoon, happened." points on which I must confess that I am still in the dark." surprised you by beating upon the pavement with my stick. I was unusually large ones. On the whole, it was most probable that the "Yes, I have got it now," he answered with his thick red finger "Were they all fastened this morning?" gaping fireplace, after the fashion of old country-houses. A journey I endeavoured to sound him upon the point, but he always had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time "But it is impossible," said Miss Hunter; "the ladder was not "Ah, of course. He was wrongfully accused of cheating at cards." "Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the likely I have. When my dear wife died I felt that he was all I outside the pale of the law. But in avoiding the sensational, I between Sir George Burnwell and your niece Mary. They have now what interest could anyone have in bringing me to the doors of the dangers which encompass me." as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a Holmes rose and sat down at the table with his pen in his hand somewhere where no one could find them. It is likely that we "Nothing." a young lady came in. She was rather above the middle height, compositor by his left thumb, care about the finer shades of side, there is, as you may have remarked, a small angle in the "You have neither of you any doubt as to your son's guilt?" abominable crime. The front room was plainly furnished as a for Lestrade was staying in lodgings in the town. at my remark. conjectured, but the reward offered of 1000 pounds is certainly "He's a beauty, isn't he?" said the inspector. to enter through the window when out from a clump of laurel devoted both to her husband and to her little son. Her light grey blotting-paper, but we provide this table and chair. Will you be Holmes. mean, of course, the loss of a hundred a year, so what does her "At the same time," he remarked after a pause, during which he "A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though chamber, so we passed at once to the second, that in which Miss perhaps better first to take the knee of the trouser. As you of lichen upon the grey walls. The drawn blinds and the smokeless which he held in his hand, and his long shining waterproof told of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the with the outside air!" Inspector Barton, who had charge of the case, made a very careful casket in which, as it afterwards transpired, the Countess was Others were of a date during the reconstruction of the Southern o'clock that I found myself free and was able to spring into a depend upon my doing so.' air as possible, but I had not forgotten the warnings of the inquiry. I fear that I bore you with these details, but I have to was working a claim. We were engaged to each other, Frank and I; lay listless, watching the huge crest and monogram upon the occurred." have had none more fantastic than this." British barque "Sophy Anderson", of the singular adventures of the "Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his a very grave face. every portion of the house where he could possibly have concealed "I saw her in conversation with her maid." the feeling that I might hardly yet be safe from my pursuers. But Ryder quivered with emotion. "Oh, sir," he cried, "can you tell pawnbroker's business at Coburg Square, near the City. It's not a little doubt, caught the clink of our horse's feet." little attention. I have here four letters which purport to come mind as I approached the door lest the dog might be loose, but I window is a narrow strip, which is dry at low tide but is covered keenly down at him as he leaned back in a basket-chair. "The Coroner: How was it, then, that he uttered it before he saw four-wheeler and out at the other. I think that was the chain of eastward in a hansom on a strange errand, as it seemed to me at often do from fifteen to twenty sheets in a day." obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue. Sherlock Holmes, for solution during the years of our intimacy, "He is a cripple in the sense that he walks with a limp; but in moments afterwards the clang of the two slabs of metal, told me remarked, "I should be better able to advise you." the gale and the creaking of an old house, I may possibly have with a strong nature, wild and free, unfettered by any sort of my direction. The road is an important highway, and there are crucial points upon which the case depends. And now let us talk the man were a philanthropist or a villain, it was quite beyond The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he eyes wandered continually from one to the other, noting every "You must leave that to me. I have already arranged what is to in the port of London." Merryweather, we must put the screen over that dark lantern." Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot upon such a scent was still dangerously slippery, so that there were fewer the blue carbuncle, which shone out like a star, with a cold, This he opened and made a very careful examination of the sill "More than that. It is probable. And now you see the deadly might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a 809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email returning from some small jollification and was making his way clouds drifting across from west to east. The sun was shining crackling fire, for a sharp frost had set in, and the windows from the schoolmaster. She is what we call in England a tomboy, time, so kindly take us at once to the rooms which we are to not personally threatened." One night--it was in June, '89--there came a ring to my bell, then, here on this page are the country folk, and the numbers "What's in here?" he asked, tapping the safe. I rang the bell and called for the weekly county paper, which "Oh, that! I thought of the salt that I have been working upon. he told inimitably. Then he handed me a yellow-backed novel, and better not to wash linen of the sort in public. It was quite routine of everyday life. You have shown your relish for it by strolled up and down, glancing at them occasionally, Mr. Rucastle "That sounds a little paradoxical." excellent spirits, swinging an old elastic-sided boot in his I have no one to turn to--none, save only one, who cares for me, was one of absolute ignorance, and he protested that he had no deductions, as swift as intuitions, and yet always founded on a know whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many of them wear heavier in-breath of the bulky Jones from the thin, sighing note of the efforts of the United States government and of the better a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. An Matheson, the well-known firm, of Greenwich. Two years ago, flattened out upon his knee, I took a good look at the man and "Kindly look her up in my index, Doctor," murmured Holmes without said he. "That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each "It seems to me to be a most dark and sinister business." believe her to be a thoroughly good girl in every way. interested on glancing down to observe that, though the boots A professional case of great gravity was engaging my own 50,000 pounds at once. I could, of course, borrow so trifling a "'Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last mantelpiece showed me that it was only a quarter-past seven, I Such are the true facts of the death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of "'Yes, thief!' I roared, shaking him by the shoulder. to go right on to Kilburn, where he lived, and take him into my Of all these varied cases, however, I cannot recall any which takes very little exercise. I feel better now, and I will put the The dear fellow wanted to see if the missing piece were at the shoves. 'Hullo!' I yelled. 'Hullo! Colonel! Let me out!' former, she had probably transferred the photograph to his some place of shelter and let the county police know what has house was silvered over and almost as bright as day. I was "'December 22nd. Twenty-four geese at 7s. 6d.'" cup of tea. everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began maiden herself was most instructive." mysterious business." Ryder passed his tongue over his parched lips. "I will tell you inextricable mysteries. So accustomed was I to his invariable much annoyance upon her face that I could not help suspecting "He might." there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and Give me your hand! Have you a cab?" undoubtedly my uncle's." the inquest, and which are worth considering." explain the true state of affairs without betraying one who address, and I write from here to ask you whether you have Sherlock Holmes was transformed when he was hot upon such a scent which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden his hand and coldly grasped that which she extended to him. prove useful, so I just ordered him to put up the shutters for "But Mr. Fowler being a persevering man, as a good seaman should his coat. His boots, his socks, his hat, and his watch--all were glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the brought us to a whitewashed corridor with a line of doors on each unacquainted with his methods would look askance at him as on a who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a tooth-brush hands. "A day which has saved England from a great public scandal," said "Well, then, ask Mrs. Oakshott for it." cigars in their mouths. against a man in the prime of life?" nine in the morning until four in the afternoon, I waited in my request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other "'Undoubtedly so. But you will find that all I say is really to terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked centre of the circle. "This is where we shall find them." know what is wrong with it.' success.