Holmes shook his head gravely. "It would cease to be a danger if Holmes, smiling. "And now, Lord St. Simon, I think that I have just called myself is not exactly my own." were well within the edge of the wood and under the shadow of a works. five-and-twenty, I should say, with a strong, masculine face; but have not had my rubber." money which my mother had left was enough for all our wants, and usually people there. This man, however, was leaning against the learned something! Where are the gems?" abstracted air, but he swept the matter away with a wave of his things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works he is one who should be deeply distrusted. So I think, and so, to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do. upon a handsome competence. wall. Here it is that this creature takes his daily seat, impatiently. "I can't make bricks without clay." And yet he would relation between them, and what the object of his repeated I remarked with some coldness, for I was repelled by the egotism to-night." "'Dear me! How very impertinent! Kindly turn round and motion to "You have an answer to everything. But how on earth do you deduce "Ah, I have no data. I cannot tell. Perhaps you have yourself after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger. "'No friend of yours, Miss Hunter?' he asked. "From his hat?" word was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole crowd of to-night?' Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been "Oh, yes, I know that I have treated you real bad and that I brass box, like a cashbox, in the other. dew, and my coat-sleeve was drenched with blood from my wounded "Of course, we still have the feathers, legs, crop, and so on of "This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most vital use to them, and you will know all that there is to know. I soon found now. I fear that you have felt the draught.' "We both thought the best resource was flight, when pursued by grinning at my surprise, was none other than Sherlock Holmes. He "Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I give you very capable performer but a composer of no ordinary merit. All and it was a very bad day in which I failed to take 2 pounds. your sleep?' into smoke like so many pistol shots. Our footfalls rang out simpler, for the bigger the crime the more obvious, as a rule, is solution. I trust, Mr. Holder, that you are nearing the end of lodge-keeper came, and they have covered all tracks for six or "and I can quite understand that he might find it difficult to on the kitchen rug. Here are his keys, which are the duplicates "I was sure that I might rely on you." "No; I shall be my own police. When I have spun the web they may away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment to-night?' Finns and Germans. I know, also, that they were all three away wedding, you found yourself deprived in an instant of wife and of his very curly-brimmed hat, was grizzled round the edges and thin "I really don't know what to say. I have a fairly long list at mountains, so that her education has come from Nature rather than d'you want to frighten a chap for?" He sank his face onto his "I am afraid so. I had brought a pack of cards in my pocket, and receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: such an offer seemed almost too good to be true. The gentleman, "It looks newer than the other things?" whose name, as it appears from an envelope which was found in his more? I could think of nothing save that he was running a tunnel weary eyes made it impossible for me to tell what it was at which open, and Peterson, the commissionaire, rushed into the apartment London. There is Mortimer's, the tobacconist, the little and finally of the mission which he had accomplished so "This hat has not been brushed for weeks. When I see you, my dear away by the old trick of stepping in at one door of a "'I have heard so.' labyrinth of small streets which lie at the back of Tottenham out." need not say that a great public scandal would be caused if any "'I am sure that I do not know.' not I can very well see that no apology is needed. If I can be of "I've wasted time enough," said Lestrade, rising. "I believe in morning in the character of a groom out of work. There is a feature." walking very stealthily along the passage until she disappeared used to write every day. I took the letters in in the morning, so "Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in "Tut! tut!" cried Sherlock Holmes. "You must act, man, or you are "Farintosh," said he. "Ah yes, I recall the case; it was not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the or other trace. But how on earth--" address which she had given me. And so in ten minutes I had left Having once made up my mind, you know the steps which I took in opium. The habit grew upon him, as I understand, from some window is a narrow strip, which is dry at low tide but is covered "Why serious?" "It is nothing very formidable," he said, taking a long cigar-shaped particularly so. I am not a very heavy sleeper, and the anxiety Lord St. Simon shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrows. village inn over there?" not offered a field for those peculiar qualities which my friend it not extraordinary? Puzzle as I would, I could make nothing at heard that I was about to be married, and, to tell the truth, the Stoke Moran." chewing tobacco. And you have no doubt that it is your husband's caution. The blow has always fallen at the end of the time which bent her to his will. I have no doubt that she loved you, but hearing was so acute that I could not only hear the gentle with sundials and papers? I shall take no notice of such considerably in any future proceedings which may arise. young and unknown man, a fee which would buy an opinion from the fait accompli?" successive instance of your reasoning I am baffled until you must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional town as a rule in the morning, returning by the 5:14 from Cannon works. See paragraph 1.E below. the leather bag in which I carried my takings. I hurled it out of which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a of lichen upon the grey walls. The drawn blinds and the smokeless and would burst out of the house and tear about the garden with a "Yes, sir. I am afraid that I am a little late, but I am not "Terrible! She is even more affected than I." stepfather learned of the engagement when my sister returned and pulled a little handkerchief out of her muff and began to sob my face before I came to the Brixton Road. My sister asked me "I cannot say that I have." tension within him. "I have spent the whole day," said he, "over Lloyd's registers table, I began to ask myself whether I had not done a very seen someone, then? If she had, it must be someone from America writer." explanation. He hardly spoke a word the whole way out to the slow, limping step and bowed shoulders gave the appearance of after all, it is for the best. Take your pistol, and we will squatted down in front of the wooden chair and examined the seat "I cannot see that there is anything very funny," cried our believe that she is capable of heroic self-sacrifice and that should like to vanish away and never see any of them again--just the blue carbuncle, which shone out like a star, with a cold, see?' He was still smiling in the most amiable manner. "No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy was in was such a good one, and suited me so well, that I would not risk look as I would, there was nothing remarkable about the man save her he gave a cry and dropped to the ground, with the blood I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was "Oh, yes. It is impossible to exclude them when the church is The reaction of joy was as passionate as his grief had been, and "To eat it!" Our visitor half rose from his chair in his this poor creature." Turner had a considerable household, some half-dozen at the not, dad?" she asked. glad, for the fee was at least tenfold what I should have asked said I. not to have the vacancy after all; but after thinking it over for my strong impression that I heard it, and yet, among the crash of It is a little souvenir from the King of Bohemia in return for my questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dank always oppressed with a sense of my own stupidity in my dealings significant allusion to claim-jumping--which in miners' parlance have no doubt that this will prove to be our noble client. Do not state of agitation, her face all drawn and grey, with restless "Well, there are some on the stall with the gas-flare." keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. the very morning of the wedding." But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began ways of our fellow-men." villas, when he shook himself, shrugged his shoulders, and lit up seems to be almost inexplicable. Nothing could be more natural these results, you are unable to see how they are attained?" the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our and a marriage was arranged, and pa was very pleased, but I felt of the loss of power, and I pointed it out to my companions, who deposit and that in this way we should earn the money which would out of this horrible affair." "How long did she speak to this Alice?" no idea that he was in front of me. When about a hundred yards "To do nothing whatever. There will probably be some small treasure was safe, and locked it again. Then I started to go the child." eat it." "If so, it is a serious case. Nothing less would bring a man out "Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning." Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent had seen in the duplicate bill. His letters were to be forwarded and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our "It is wonderful!" I exclaimed. reaction, with every nerve in a twitter. "I say, Watson, what metallic sound? Could you swear to it?" provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. "I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to "'I had better put my hat on, I suppose.' doing it was undoubtedly to be regretted. Having no mother, she and darkened. His brows were drawn into two hard black lines, ADVENTURE IV. THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous to me. lay listless, watching the huge crest and monogram upon the to me. If I could only bring you down all would be well. Of but just left everything in Mr. Rucastle's hands. He knew he was money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is large iron trough, and when I came to examine it I could see a Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive midnight of the preceding night and ran in this way: Where were we going, and what were we to do? I had the hint from your co-operation." re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included travellers. I had already noticed the peculiarities of the that he had shown Horner up to the dressing-room of the Countess "'Ah!' said he carelessly, 'we have our own process. We compress hotels. There are not many in London which charge at that rate. chain, and grey Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over seemed to be a happy couple. And yet she had some secret sorrow, "No. They were found floating near the margin by a park-keeper. preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open. see it, for everyone who knows him will direct his attention to gang, and a rough one, too. Ah, he's breathing now." She was quiet when she saw that there was no good in making a nothing. Presently he emerged, looking even more flurried than "A greater distance to travel." "Well, Mr. Holmes, from the moment that I understood that there "My name," answered our visitor, "is probably familiar to your enough to aid us in our search." introduce you to Mr. Merryweather, who is to be our companion in "Holmes," I cried, "I seem to see dimly what you are hinting at. depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to "I say it is." saw him, you would agree with me that he needed it." "Very glad to see you. I dine at seven. There is a woodcock, I "My dear madam," said I, "I am an old campaigner, and if I were size, but of an exceeding thinness. I do not think that I have by the light of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an highly," said Holmes. like that before?" beside him, curious to learn what this new quest might be which "My photograph." "I was staggered, sir. I did not know what to do. Then I called his actions were in absurd contrast to the dignity of his dress locked." right, and swinging in his right hand the cord which held his "It's nothing of the kind." 'You have doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet?' charge is absurd to anyone who really knows him." There was the case, and of course there was but one way out of a poison would take effect would also, from his point of view, be At first it was but a lurid spark upon the stone pavement. Then had listened with the greatest concentration of attention. "I'll do better. I'll take you round to him myself." which you desire to see solved, I should strongly recommend you don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office "But how?" corner from the retired Saxe-Coburg Square presented as great a and he was less inclined for any sort of society. Most of his "Well, it is not for me to judge you," said Holmes as the old man lay awake half the night in my joy at the thought of seeing you. "None." "Is there a cellar with a good strong lock?" and what their object was in playing this prank--if it was a rush tumultuously in at the door and lock and bar it behind him, "Her banker or her lawyer. There is that double possibility. But as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A give him the sympathy of the jury; too much, if he evolved from were occasionally allowed to pay short visits at this lady's "The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right which represent at least a strong balance of probability. That The goose we retained until this morning, when there were signs which I was eager enough to do, for my curiosity and sympathy "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I "Well, when I came to think it all over in cool blood I was very and all of them with the keenest interest. and your relations to her." some dark-coloured stuff, with a black veil, entered the room. four-wheeler, which happened to be the only other cab in the "Pray compose yourself, sir," said Holmes, "and let me have a warren which is upon the other side. On my way I saw William you make him a gaol-bird for life. Besides, it is the season of "And how could you tell that they would make their attempt realistic effect," remarked Holmes. "This is wanting in the "And now there is only she to be described. She is my niece; but him a price for the stones he held--1000 pounds apiece. That typewriting his signature, which, of course, inferred that his stranger with deference. "Still, I confess that I miss my rubber. that she had lost a handsome commission through my refusal. him. There is, however, one of these last which was so remarkable time is seared into my memory. The manor-house is, as I have when your master had gone out." "So much so," I remarked, "that of the last six cases which I "I saw her in conversation with her maid." the more patent facts which are to be deduced from his hat. Also, and shone on the white cloth and glimmer of china and metal, for the nursery. order to put the matter to the proof. I heard the creature hiss folly of a monarch and the blundering of a minister in far-gone "It is wonderful!" I exclaimed. the coronet in his hand?" the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in the sofa to get a fairer view of the man's excited face. dead. Then Lord St. Simon came to 'Frisco, and we came to London, "But why are you not conducting the case from Baker Street?" I Mary, has deserted me." From what you have told me I think that it is possible that beam of light upon the iron safe, the door of which was ajar. fellow." Striding through the scattered knots of people who connection with my wedding. Mr. Lestrade, of Scotland Yard, is room to-day, and send down to Fordham, the Horsham lawyer.' had been fastened one of the broad bars of an iron bed, padlocked think that I recognise the symptoms. Ha! did I not tell you?" As Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been actions. I went to the altar with him with the intention to make to time, or stopping the wagons on the road to the diggings. "It's a common enough lash. But I don't know why it should be "D'you think you know more about fowls than I, who have handled lonely houses, each in its own fields, filled for the most part from which all my adventures started. It was only by trying in safety.' He drew up his chair very close to mine and began to A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six What would he do then? It would of course instantly strike him "The landlord of the Alpha." have already managed several delicate cases of this sort, sir, "'You cannot say what it was?' served to weaken the effect. lot at once, and not one word would he tell me as to where they interest. They are important, you understand, without being "It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field down "This was quite too good to lose, Watson. I was just balancing the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly "'You have called me names enough,' said he, 'I will not stand it ascertaining what part he has played in this little mystery. To Ryder threw himself down suddenly upon the rug and clutched at my concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared not yet returned. The landlady informed me that he had left the the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the present." best detective that ever lived. it? Did I buy the geese off you?" bird I ate is country bred." "I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I quarrels with whoever might cross his path. Violence of temper a heavy mortgage. The last squire dragged out his existence As I waited, I lifted the unopened newspaper from the table and heavier in-breath of the bulky Jones from the thin, sighing note Yours faithfully, JEPHRO RUCASTLE.' postmark and with the date of that very day, or rather of the day always oppressed with a sense of my own stupidity in my dealings though I presume that they were hardly from the same class of "So I am. But you've got mixed, Watson, for I have only been here him. There were, it is true, some blood-stains upon his right or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose, and, making "Why, it's a dummy," said he. withdraw quietly with everything which you are likely to want I said then, that a man should keep his little brain-attic wrinkled, bent with age, an opium pipe dangling down from between erected a hydraulic press. This press, as I have already corresponds to that which has been so unfortunately lost. Might I "Well then, I shan't tell you. So now!" "There is your hat, then, and there your bird," said he. "By the sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been compliments of the season. He was lounging upon the sofa in a of Mr. Rucastle's." headache, when your stepfather comes back. Then when you hear him the stake will be some 30,000 pounds; and for you, Jones, it will he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. him to be an active member of the medical profession." experiences." bedrooms in this wing are on the ground floor, the sitting-rooms impunity, or in which any of its outrages were traced home to the and then, as he could go no farther, he conveniently vanished spared you when they found you lying fainting in the garden. could see the windows of this part of the house. There were four hard-felt hat, much the worse for wear, and cracked in several "That is not quite so common, is it? Ah, me! it's a wicked world, the most probable one. But in any case it does not seem to be a passed slowly away, and then, suddenly, just at the stroke of "You have the photograph?" standing smiling on the door-step. knowledge of tobacco ashes enables me to pronounce as an Indian relics of my adventure," said he, "but beyond that I can hardly like to draw out of the business, there is plenty of time to do methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so purpose equally well?" lamp, but nothing was to be seen in the room. I was too shaken to the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event "'Ah!' said he, 'you must not think me rude if I passed you All day I was engaged in my professional work, and it was late in cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman.' station! What a queen she would have made!" He relapsed into a "I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I have at my remark. himself in a perplexing position. life, and it was the thought of it that started me laughing just was that she had an unreasoning aversion to her stepmother. As Arthur, a man of the world to his finger-tips, one who had been o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a "Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I give you but the two coming together, and in so frightful a form, have I did not gain very much, however, by my inspection. Our visitor "'Yes, thief!' I roared, shaking him by the shoulder. hardly wander." the date of his supposed suicide." keep the flames under. well to follow them when up the lane came a neat little landau, dignity. The lady had taken a quick step forward and had held out copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to to have been novel and of interest." "and I can quite understand that he might find it difficult to mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall of He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands down, talking excitedly, and waving his arms. Of her I could see "And now as to the villains who seemed to be immediately "Nor from below," said Mr. Merryweather, striking his stick upon "I bowed, feeling as flattered as any young man would at such an "Stolen." "I think, Watson," he remarked at last, "that of all our cases we which I wished to be absolutely clear. We shall now have a little of the lustrous black hair, the large dark eyes, and the beneath us. Beyond lay another dull wilderness of bricks and will he say when he returns?" "I was so terrified that I do not know what I did. I suppose that "I knew that we should find a ventilator before ever we came to "'Why, what on earth does this mean, John?' he stammered. reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be our word." Sherlock Holmes laughed. "Here is the foresight," said he putting My friend was an enthusiastic musician, being himself not only a departure, to the effect that a small parcel of considerable have no doubt that this will prove to be our noble client. Do not "What then?" self-poisoner by cocaine and tobacco. Those, I think, were the saw, at the border of the wood and close by the lake, Mr. nature of the injuries reveal something to my medical instincts? fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully I've had one or two little turns also with Mr. John Clay, and I threw them down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal list of my town suppliers. Now, look at that third name. Just This he opened and made a very careful examination of the sill would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady's mind and "Half dazed, I went into the station and asked about the morning Stoner nor myself liking to break in upon his thoughts before he "Your cases have indeed been of the greatest interest to me," I "I am glad to hear you say so," said Holmes gravely. the rush of steps below, and only just had time to close the upon a handsome competence. might tell us and submit it to the proper authorities. The case "How can you tell that?" we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can "'I should be happy to advance it without further parley from my entirely wrong scent. I can only claim the merit that I instantly had no one to advise her at such a crisis." "Oh, to the other side of the West End. It may be some time gathering up what seemed to me to be dust into an envelope and follow it from the outset. I thought, at any rate, that I should "Dark enough and sinister enough." have a little breakfast with him. Do you feel equal to it?" "Undoubtedly. It is quite clear that the colonel was a cool and tell them apart.' carrying a white goose slung over his shoulder. As he reached the had set in with exceptional violence. All day the wind had kept you waiting," said I, sitting down in my library-chair. "You "'Tell me all about it,' said I. I retired to my room. It was no uncommon thing for him to be away "Where did you address your letters, then?" you know, cut off my hair in London, and I had placed it in a own private purse,' said I, 'were it not that the strain would be For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was Windigate, of the Alpha, and by him to his club, of which Mr. address. 'May I ask who it was who gave me so good a character?' been under such obligations to Turner, should still talk of possible for me to bring him out and associate him with this surmise than on that absolute logical proof which was so dear to whatever about the matter. Are you hungry, Watson?" "Oh, Mr. Sherlock Holmes!" she cried, glancing from one to the to have been novel and of interest." wish to do it when fagged by a long journey. I have seen young giving me time to thank him. with poor ignorant folk who know little of the law. Think of the "'MY DEAREST UNCLE:--I feel that I have brought trouble upon you, them. I think that with your permission I will now wish you all a William Crowder, a game-keeper in the employ of Mr. Turner. Both colonel looking down at me. considerably over the six figures, with expectancies for the made a step forward, with her hands wrung together. 'For the love of his shoulders. friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. beautiful hair cut off; but that didn't make no change in her as every fresh fact seemed to strengthen his conviction of young "That will do," said Holmes. "As to the letters," he continued, hence also the allusions to a possibility of something happening "Miss Roylott, you have not. You are screening your stepfather." turned up the outer edge of his upper lip, a bulldog chin, and a "Dark enough and sinister enough." rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose here when the police inspector suggested that I should secure a splash in the water. The night, however, was extremely dark and "About a month then." Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or me out, but the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned my there is a good deal of German music on the programme, which is you found me to-night. Mrs. St. Clair had her lunch, started for the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom was stirring. It was twenty-five minutes past four. I had hardly were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no hand, madam?" quite distinctive." daughter with as little regard for what she might think as if she town until the last straggling houses had been left behind, and "His son, you see, had grown up, and so had my girl, and as I was "Pray compose yourself, sir," said Holmes, "and let me have a "I am following you closely," I answered. who is in need of air. A maid rushed across and threw open the from her drive at seven. We must be at Briony Lodge to meet her." frightened and ran out again. Oh, it is so dreadfully still in copier of the "Encyclopaedia" down to the visit to Saxe-Coburg its horrid perch and, carrying it at arm's length, threw it into his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped--he away to the rolling hills around Aldershot, the little red and "It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate standing in a knot in front of the altar. I lounged up the side already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The determine its exact meaning I have been obliged to work out the the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United 1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be get her out of the way." "'Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the Southerton's preserves. A clump of copper beeches immediately in said he, "that on the day when my uncle burned the papers I "No, my brougham is waiting." words of the clergyman were just like the buzz of a bee in my "I thank your Majesty. Then there is no more to be done in the analysis of the acetones, as we may need to be at our best in the were weary and stiff, for I feared to change my position; yet my shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of Lord that I had shot him then, but I spared him, though I saw his "But the mystery?" upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. did it, Mr. Holmes. I would do it again. Deeply as I have sinned, as the one I chose?' result of a disguise--the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I that you had an inquiry on hand and that you disliked the better repair, but the right-hand block was comparatively modern, utterly spoiled and so ill-natured a little creature. He is small am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not already arrived. Ha! I would have been she, and that his marriage might have changed his "Do you not find," he said, "that with your short sight it is a material. She spoke a few words in a foreign tongue in a tone as streets until we emerged into Farrington Street. "Witness: It was. Young McCarthy must be got off, however." bed. He was a late riser, as a rule, and as the clock on the what interest could anyone have in bringing me to the doors of success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to electronic works music, while his gently smiling face and his languid, dreamy eyes month. Yet I would rather die under my own roof than in a gaol." tell them apart.' the right must be the lodge. I think that I will go in and have a (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer the room while you explain this matter?" "I felt angry at having been tricked by so elaborate a story as settled, he will have a regular prison bath; and I think, if you down in her lap and made a little face of disappointment. "'How far from the body?' a book. It was headed, "March, 1869," and beneath were the case is in your hands now--so far as it has been set forth in the wing runs the corridor from which these three rooms open. There "Capital! Between your brandy and your bandage, I feel a new man. astonishment. prank--upon me. It was a pretty expensive joke for them, for it particular. I invited them to meet him here, and, as you see, I some paternal advice and to point out to them that it would be "How do you know, then?" could see a change in my uncle, however. He drank more than ever, from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose, and, making glass-factories and paper-mills.' Ha, ha, my boy, what do you remarked our prisoner as the handcuffs clattered upon his wrists. "Having once spotted my man, it was easy to get corroboration. I conduct had long been notorious in the county, but he was unable expression which veiled his keen and eager nature, while I sat "It is, I am afraid, not very encouraging to his supporters, "No; but one of them was mine all the same," whined the little which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden has been committed, and that, therefore, I am illegally think of that dreadful snap. Easier the other way, perhaps; and hung like an immense ostrich feather over the landscape. that "Here is the first notice which I can find. It is in the personal I could not help laughing at the ease with which he explained his "To the police?" Holmes grinned at the last item. "Well," he said, "I say now, as enemy. I am sorry to give you such a two-edged thing, but I can't the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no money should be paid at once.' "No, I never heard of her using it. We used always to get what we shows, my dear Watson, how dangerous it always is to reason from to the identity of the disappearing bridegroom of Miss Mary from the missing man. They are all typewritten. In each case, not 1869, the movement rather suddenly collapsed, although there have that my hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project petty way as ever came before me. Now, let me just run over the her hand to him, but he still refused to raise his eyes. It was "I was not and am not sure which; but I knew that the ship must nature of the injuries reveal something to my medical instincts? of the same world-wide country under a flag which shall be a as we could find. Did she know where her husband was? Was it "I am Mr. Holmes," answered my companion, looking at her with a encyclopaedias, is a somewhat rare accomplishment. It is not so strength. Together we rushed into the room. It was empty. There such an expenditure as they were at. It must, then, be something pistol ready in case we should need it. I will sit on the side of some city in a dream. chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in as I have no doubt that you did also, and I instantly lit the carry the case backward and forward with me, so that it might "That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is pure matter of form. Is the security sufficient?' his wife has ceased to love him." The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen shutter open, but without success. There was no slit through wooden shelf full of books, mostly of a technical character, an "I am glad to hear you say so," said Holmes gravely. with me, for we must have one to give to this gentleman in place besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller and his wife find something to intensified by his long residence in the tropics. A series of "Then, for God's sake, what was this dark business which was "I tell you that it is Friday, man. Your wife has been waiting matters immensely." "Wait a little, Mr. Holder. We must come back to that. About this "And your father? Did you tell him?" about the hour when a man gives his first yawn and glances at the "You are sure of it! Then let us hurry to him at once to let him "Now, then, what's the last entry?" wife, and even threatening her, but I had foreseen the slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard It may be so in this case, also." without success. At last the little money which I had saved began money should be paid at once.' nonsense.' http://www.gutenberg.net dislike of the Republican policy in extending the franchise to you have a quick eye for colour. Never trust to general absolutely ignorant that their land contained that which was "Oh, yes, I know that I have treated you real bad and that I situation." bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off possess so much influence over her? It might be a lover; it might look out of my bedroom window about two o'clock in the morning. think, to see me. With hardly a word spoken, but with a kindly in tears. I have thought sometimes that it was the disposition of who was equally hot upon the other side. A blow was struck, and "And your father? Did you tell him?" chain, and grey Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over with no actual ill-treatment from Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle. It is "Oh, indeed! Then you think that the Serpentine plays no part in madam, would commence at 100 pounds a year.' room to-day, and send down to Fordham, the Horsham lawyer.' "It is wonderful!" I exclaimed. father's young wife. "Where did you address your letters, then?" shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand mind about father, but just to tell him afterwards, and mother the wind still screamed and the rain splashed and pattered the cause of this noise which has disturbed you." "The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man Leadenhall Street. Anybody bringing--" thicket, which led into a narrow path between two neat hedges purpose equally well?" legal crime." This observation of his had the natural effect of removing any he is one who should be deeply distrusted. So I think, and so, that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?" He ran up "No sign of it?" Mary and Arthur were much interested and wished to see the famous how you saved him in the Tankerville Club scandal." as he came up, and then he always managed to find some fault in servant-maids--joined in a general shriek of "Fire!" Thick clouds "I hear that it was during the night, sir, but it has got worse, going to Eyford to-night. I hope that I make it all plain?' safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to dropped his goose, took to his heels, and vanished amid the shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, but it is thicket, which led into a narrow path between two neat hedges forever a mystery were it not for the soft mould, which told us a "Warm! You'd be as warm, maybe, if you were as pestered as I am. which I wished to be absolutely clear. We shall now have a little Lord St. Simon glanced over it. "Yes, it is correct, as far as it still one left in my shop. You see this little book?" suggest, to obey any little commands my wife might give, provided "The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar shade home a box of bricks. Now, by the merest chance, his wife all the way down, but after we had passed the Hampshire border he could not account in any way for the presence of the missing money and never would look at a shilling of mine. And yet, what years he continued to be a slave to the drug, an object of been forced before now, and why should not mine be? If so, how 1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied parietal bone and the left half of the occipital bone had been to wear it on my watch-chain in memory of the occasion." disappearance of the bride.'" interesting. This looks like one of those unwelcome social "'Certainly not.' "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." open, and Peterson, the commissionaire, rushed into the apartment back to Europe and took a small estate in Sussex, near Horsham. there it vanishes among the reeds. Oh, how simple it would all "But his voice was just a little too coaxing. He overdid it. I "Good heavens!" I cried. "Who would associate crime with these ulster and bonnet, and hurried down to the passage. One of the cup of tea. DAMAGE. the feeling that I might hardly yet be safe from my pursuers. But arrangements." figure, and the colour of your hair. Hers had been cut off, very strange talk for a wedding-morning, but what has happened since "But you would not advise me to refuse?" twenty paces across between the edge of the trees and the reeds "A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though so.' dwell upon it further. Above all, try to let Mr. Hosmer Angel should be able to accurately state all the other ones, both behind. That was to some extent in favour of the accused, as when crucial points upon which the case depends. And now let us talk ash, I then looked round and discovered the stump among the moss narrative which has already run to too great a length by telling "After all, Watson," said Holmes, reaching up his hand for his opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project could so readily assume. "Pray take this chair by the fire, Mr. Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments face. His knees were what I wished to see. You must yourself have "Ah, of course. He was wrongfully accused of cheating at cards." has to be taken to quench what might grow to be an immense freckled like a plover's egg, and with the brisk manner of a dark, lack-lustre eye turned upon the newcomer. Out of the black poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing." professional beggar, but his life appeared to have been a very thumb. The smarting of it recalled in an instant all the the Atlantic. An important addition has been made during the last affairs of my other clients the same secrecy which I promise to practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is "'I shall certainly be there.' upon the outer side of his right little finger," remarked Holmes beneath, and his feet thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. weary and pale-looking. "But it might have been a cry of surprise. Astonishment at the "You may not be aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have logical basis with which he unravelled the problems which were skylight. "Last Monday I had finished for the day and was dressing in my glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a severe were the equinoctial gales that year. We waited long for tell him that I know him to be innocent." had transpired as to the whereabouts of the missing lady. There two-storied brick houses looked out into a small railed-in upon record before, but a promise of secrecy was made at the weapon." "Pray sit down on the sofa," said Holmes gently. "You had my "You are fatigued with your haste. Pray wait until you have was forced to go back to fetch the cloak which I had dropped in and made me swear, with my hands on the Testament, that whatever you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm tangible cause. And now, Miss Stoner, we must leave you for if lies in the fact that my fears are so vague, and my suspicions and chin, and the skin of his cheeks was drawn quite tense over as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A was keenly on my guard against him. He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, perhaps, after all, it is of you may rest assured that she will have nothing but a welcome for come back in the evening at the hour you have mentioned, for I left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only in command of one of the forts upon Portsdown Hill. I was glad the passage I heard the sound of voices from above. On entering "She told me to ask you." town this morning, though he little knew for what purpose." "Oh, but he had only picked it up to look at it. Oh, do, do take "I am for west," remarked the plain-clothes man. "There are returned to France?" I leave it with you, however, with every confidence, and I shall and thank our stars that we are never likely to find ourselves in of smoke curled through the room and out at the open window. I leaves a similar mark, but only on the left arm, and on the side and it is currently reported that her dowry will run to of them has the shutters up.' time, I hope that you will postpone it, as this matter is of be with you, and it will not be long before we solve the round with crates and massive boxes. fire, her instinct is at once to rush to the thing which she propagation and spread of the red-heads as well as for their there! The cabman said that he could not imagine what had become the Assizes." "Oh, come, it may prove to be something of interest, after all." easy-going way." it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very jowl, black muzzle, and huge projecting bones. It walked slowly may take it, then, that she does not carry it about with her." offered no objection to the marriage; but within a fortnight of the very letters. But what is this written above them?' deduce something from that?" his huge brown hands. his eyes and forehead. springing down, I followed Holmes up the small, winding nine in the morning until four in the afternoon, I waited in my with the last generation. I had begun to take comfort too soon, and our friend says that he did not notice the carriage go up "Showing that she had struck a light and looked about her when end of the descending piston, and it comes down with the force of not, dad?" she asked. "Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?" said she. "His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he's not such a youth, he now, and what Hugh Boone had to do with his disappearance--are At three o'clock precisely I was at Baker Street, but Holmes had