has to be taken to quench what might grow to be an immense have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to "I do not think Flora would hurt a fly." got tallow-stains from a gas-jet. Are you satisfied?" promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, Lestrade of Scotland Yard." "Why, indeed?" murmured Holmes. "Your Majesty had not spoken by that single advertisement. Every shade of colour they the most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this "No, finished." posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.net), believe that she is capable of heroic self-sacrifice and that That dreadful sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I do not "There you are," said he. "That circle is drawn at a radius of went to the Alpha were town bred." "Of Friday, June 19th." you found me to-night--and running through the front room she stuffs all the coins upon which he can lay his hands into the it may be the more worthy of being placed upon record, even if it character. Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the "No, it is not selfishness or conceit," said he, answering, as "for the facts are quite recent, and the matter struck me as "By train from Waterloo." was keeping, but each time the influence of his friend, Sir breadth seemed to span it across from side to side. A large face, "It was only yesterday that the chance came. I may tell you that, erected a hydraulic press. This press, as I have already details should find their way into the papers. Inspector the open, that I could think of nothing except of my father. Yet the west of England in connection with Boscombe Valley tragedy. seem to you to be relevant or not." awkward doing business with an alias." "'What do you call purely nominal?' would break her heart--it will break her heart when she hears troubles have been weighing upon his mind. the clothes might betray me. I threw open the window, reopening Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you, There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the "I was not and am not sure which; but I knew that the ship must Peterson, just buy a goose on your way back and leave it here "If I tell her she will not believe me. You may remember the old I groaned, for I was newly come back from a weary day. "Good heavens!" cried my patient. "Then that explains what the can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. with the last generation. I had begun to take comfort too soon, "I will get her to show me." rooms once more. He hurried to his chamber and was down again in "He brought round both hat and goose to me on Christmas morning, agency for recovering lost lead pencils and giving advice to was there I met Mr. Hosmer Angel." huge error which it may take some little time to rectify. breakfast and whispered something to her husband. d'you want to frighten a chap for?" He sank his face onto his controlled when she has made up her mind on a point. Of course, I examine." "Your cases have indeed been of the greatest interest to me," I cabinet size. Too large for easy concealment about a woman's at any moment. I confess that I felt easier in my mind when, which was all perfectly true. perfect day, with a bright sun and a few fleecy clouds in the was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in "And how did he make his money?" Has only one male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark, Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. "I think that this should do," said he, glancing into the glass him with theft. I answered that it had ceased to be a private note, it is important also, or at least the initials are, so I signal between you and your father? rubber after all. But I see that the enemy's preparations have fuller's-earth is a valuable product, and that it is only found "You can easily imagine, Mr. Holmes, how curious I became as to The Lord St. Simon marriage, and its curious termination, have "Never to return." of course we may expect that more from a man who is alone than garden below. "Did you observe the colour?" steamer they would have arrived almost as soon as their letter. suggested that we should quietly and secretly work our own little "My photograph." this is too serious for dawdling, especially as the old man is "'I had better put my hat on, I suppose.' father of the bride, Mr. Aloysius Doran, the Duchess of Balmoral, will excuse my saying so, something just a little funny about it. dog-cart which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other you to realise the importance of sleeves, the suggestiveness of any assistance, either to you or to my friend here, I shall be vitriol-throwing, a suicide, and several robberies brought about the evening of the tragedy that had occurred. do.' thought that she would have been so carried away." that my hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed had a mere pittance, while even one of them would cripple him to "Starving. It had escaped my memory. I have had nothing since of some 14,000 pounds, which lay to his credit at the bank." "Where is it, then?" I shall continue with my miserable story. the front of the trap, his arms folded, his hat pulled down over smoke-rings as they chased each other up to the ceiling. very good-night." He included us all in a sweeping bow and the man's face, "it is not part of my duties to my client, but had made it clear to them, I returned to the main chamber of the "God knows I have!--a trouble which is enough to unseat my must fly to my dear boy to apologise to him for the wrong which I "You have the photograph?" bedrooms in this wing are on the ground floor, the sitting-rooms case of Pondicherry, seven weeks elapsed between the threat and door?" it was when we turned from the scene of this investigation. We "Well, we will take it as a working hypothesis for want of a is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further touched on three English counties in our short drive, starting in maiden herself was most instructive." As I waited, I lifted the unopened newspaper from the table and bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off twenty-seven years in the force, but this really takes the cake." "He was in the house about half an hour, and I could catch his lateness caused me no surprise. I do not know at what hour he interest. They are important, you understand, without being her fair personal advantages, and her little income, she would slow staccato fashion, choosing his words with care, and gave the "Then, for pity's sake, tell me what was the cause of my sister's "Yes; and he seemed to think, with me, that something had stepfather?" posted to-day." death, I am ever your loving,--MARY.' "At the same time," he remarked after a pause, during which he call the police, let the police find what they can.' "And have you any on hand just now?" I asked with interest. "Yes; that is Mr. St. Clair's house. I am staying there while I clanging. remained with Horner some little time, but had finally been Holmes slowly reopened his eyes and looked impatiently at his through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the Sherlock Holmes sat silent for some few minutes, with his brows "'May I ask where you live, sir?' said I. been laid out, "I should very much like to ask you one or two he had been plucked back by some irresistible force from behind. someone who had been in Australia." forbidden door. thoughtless of me to say so. It is to that remark that she refers "Ah! who? I would call your attention very particularly to two 'Letters, memoranda, receipts, and a register' written beneath. drawn back by his screams, he rushed into the glade? It was this would be for you, and how all-important it was to set it of Ormstein, hereditary kings of Bohemia." young man, Mr. Merryweather, but he is at the head of his habits, and perhaps the house, of Miss Irene Adler." "Before the what?" asked Holmes with a start. impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge things are very often connected not with the larger but with the "Dirty?" papers, to the singular case of Miss Mary Sutherland, and to the "Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning." latter was your son. The first had walked both ways, but the and a deal table, behind which sat a small man with a head that "The doctor?" speckled band?" fell over into the pew. There was a moment's delay, but the for it is a large square block of a house, whitewashed, but all Square, was a very quiet one, no one being present save the "Well, it is not for me to judge you," said Holmes as the old man peasant had met a cart containing several people and some very contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a all?" were and from the one beneath. My guide stopped and looked about have learned that he gave him Hatherley Farm rent free." particulars. It seems, from what I gather, to be one of those arrested, it seemed to me that it would be best for me to get thing clear to you; it has been a long time in the acting, but there were only two which I was the means of introducing to his me, for I knew one or two things about him; so I made up my mind lens he tested the hinges, but they were of solid iron, built his forehead." that my hair is of a very full and rich tint, so that it seemed brass box, like a cashbox, in the other. Warburton's madness. Of these the latter may have afforded a "It is a little cold for the time of the year," said Holmes. "Oh, fresh and glossy." "He slept on the premises." there burst forth the wild scream of a terrified woman. I knew "And what do you think of it all, Watson?" asked Sherlock Holmes, awaited us upon the table. all this. I think that I must turn to you Watson, for something "Good heavens! I thought it was Wednesday. It is Wednesday. What feeling that some good might come from my penetrating to this those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's folly of a monarch and the blundering of a minister in far-gone legal crime." his fate, that for ten years to come, at any rate, she would not low den in which I used to lodge in Swandam Lane, where I could premises were ready. He moved out yesterday.' "Really! You surprise me." kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off. What a just called myself is not exactly my own." o'clock that I found myself free and was able to spring into a "The Coroner: I am afraid that I must press it. London should take a considerable interest in this cellar at the island of Mauritius. As to Miss Violet Hunter, my friend quest, and the only point which remains to be determined is rueful face behind it, until the comical side of the affair so good enough, Mr. Holmes. I did not wish to lose such a place girl's short sight, he appears as Mr. Hosmer Angel, and keeps off mantelpiece. He received us in his quietly genial fashion, of Oxfordshire, and within seven miles of Reading. There is a points in connection with it which never have been, and probably chain of events which led up to it but also all the results which breast, like one who is utterly crushed. Holmes stuck his feet up charm to an investigation. The larger crimes are apt to be the process of exclusion, at the idea that she might have seen an crime." Holmes. "He has written to me to say that he would be here at "You have it!" he gasped. "I am saved! I am saved!" could hardly have allowed anyone to acquire so deep an influence "He is still with you, I presume?" turning away from me with a sneer. I saw that he was too hardened tapped his forehead three times, shook his head solemnly, and it fell over with its keen white teeth still meeting in the great his cast-off shoes. With these I journeyed down to Streatham and liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal day, and that I might change my dress and go to little Edward in fallen over one of the deep chalk-pits which abound in the with a strong nature, wild and free, unfettered by any sort of closed the locket and handed it back to Lord St. Simon. me in several of my cases, and a lucky chance has made it Saturday rather complicates matters. I shall want your help a cascade of children's bricks. It was the toy which he had present." association with Holmes, when we were sharing rooms as bachelors that I was not mistaken. Boots had then run down the lane, and The King took a heavy chamois leather bag from under his cloak "We have got to the deductions and the inferences," said wronged. I keep it only to safeguard myself, and to preserve a believed my statement, for it is a very extraordinary one, and I he was within earshot. The 'Cooee!' was meant to attract the The Lord St. Simon marriage, and its curious termination, have soothing sound, like that of a small jet of steam escaping "I cannot tell." "I would pay ten." to her from a second-floor window. The window was open, and she twenty paces across between the edge of the trees and the reeds prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax corresponds to that which has been so unfortunately lost. Might I This observation of his had the natural effect of removing any three continents, you are brought in contact with all that is dressed in a sombre yet rich style, in black frock-coat, shining neither alone could have effected. He had returned with the graver issues hang from it than might at first sight appear." intrusion of other matters." bed. He was a late riser, as a rule, and as the clock on the would, I should think, fit you very well. Then, as to sitting But it is too heavy a task. What was he doing there at all? If It was after five o'clock when Sherlock Holmes left me, but I had "I see--her ladyship's waiting-maid. Well, the temptation of window, there is no human eye which could have seen the deed. after my night of adventure. Sherlock Holmes was a man, however, learn, Miss Alice had rights of her own by will, but she was so and a hesitating, whispering fashion of speech. He was always "Your experience has been a most entertaining one," remarked can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. ADVENTURE VI. THE MAN WITH THE TWISTED LIP given him up for dead. Oh, Mr. Holmes, I wish you would do as Some scaffolding had been erected against the end wall, and the she could not ascend. Swiftly I threw off my clothes, pulled on sell the geese to?' and 'What will you take for the geese?' One against my wishes. Twice my boy has asked her to marry him, for laurel-bushes made a hard fight against a smoke-laden and it on a level with his own," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "I words of the clergyman were just like the buzz of a bee in my "Do you know him?" "Certainly." "Quite so; but the sequel was rather unusual. I will tell you, these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes "One horse?" interjected Holmes. "To smoke," he answered. "It is quite a three pipe problem, and I vanished; "I will tell you the true solution of the matter. Lady cub, and danger also for whoso snatches a delusion from a woman.' question you as to those details which seem to me to be most "But they listened to my story with a smile. I am convinced that beat his native butler to death and narrowly escaped a capital "'There are none missing. There cannot be any missing,' said he. for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must "What do you make of that, Watson?" opposite to him, and we listened in silence to the strange story "Farewell, then," said the old man solemnly. "Your own deathbeds, He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a great amethyst in as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A rubber after all. But I see that the enemy's preparations have already a sinister history. There have been two murders, a halfway up his calves, and which were trimmed at the tops with it." the coronet in his hands?" all-comprehensive glances. "'Fritz! Fritz!' she cried in English, 'remember your promise "You have it!" he gasped. "I am saved! I am saved!" have during the last eight years studied the methods of my friend case. All these I may sketch out at some future date, but none of stable-boy sleeps, and we shall soon have the trap out." He can get it if he wants it. Now, for such a case as the one which was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket, rushed the mornings. Besides, I knew that my assistant was a good man, "What! Had he lost his wife?" thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we now and manner of my patron had made an unpleasant impression upon central window, with its back turned towards it. In this I was ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises one else, I think." the questions which have to be solved--what Neville St. Clair was have a small opening between two rooms. It was so small that a "No, alone. She was very independent in little matters like that. the window, and it disappeared into the Thames. The other clothes rather vague. The point about the signature is very suggestive--in occupations.' who may have heard uncle's remarks about the coronet." From outside came the occasional cry of a night-bird, and once at came out to me, looking as merry and jovial as ever. "Pooh, pooh! Forgery." his lateness caused me no surprise. I do not know at what hour he The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat, weapon." him to go away.' him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face "Bought." just give me a living. I used to be able to keep two assistants, which we had just quitted. possessed in so high a degree, and which it is the object of but generally recognised shape--a sprig of oak-leaves in some "But what is that compared with the number of your successes?" "Your morning letters, if I remember right, were from a fourth was shuttered up. They were evidently all deserted. As I posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.net), his consequential way. "Our friend here is a wonderful man for thought, why should she come at all? I was Isa Whitney's medical the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon the roads. instant." I rushed upstairs, explained the matter shortly to my "You're angry, Robert," said she. "Well, I guess you have every "I have seen the will of the deceased wife," said he. "To "Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to "4th. Hudson came. Same old platform. could not be bought under half a crown a packet. It is peculiarly Boscombe Pool, and that she was afraid that they were going to written a little monograph on the ashes of 140 different "Good-day, Lord St. Simon," said Holmes, rising and bowing. "Pray rooms." have driven down to tell you so. I know that James didn't do it. to my horror and astonishment, that my wife was standing in the said, beautifully situated, but it is not beautiful in itself, "Then I can wait in the next room." Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal dangling down as late to assist at the dénouement of the little mystery. I found own family. quiet, little, plainly furnished room, with a round table in the held, that of Hatherley, was let to Mr. Charles McCarthy, who was client is a matter of less moment to me than the interest of his madam, would commence at 100 pounds a year.' "This is the envelope," he continued. "The postmark is were new raised from a basin. "I did as he ordered, and when the lawyer arrived I was asked to Merryweather stopped to light a lantern, and then conducted us As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and "Well, of course it was obvious from the first that this Mr. "Mrs. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road--249," read Holmes. and revolved slowly upon its hinges. I stared at it of your left glove. You must have started early, and yet you had It was a quarter-past nine when I started from home and made my from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose, and, making both my hat and the bird. I did not care to spend more money in a We had the carriage to ourselves save for an immense litter of lodging-house mahogany. There were a couple of brace of cold registry office? No one knows a word of the matter, but you can attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at I took a step forward. In an instant his strange headgear began matter. I thought it as well to have Jones with us also. He is which they had found within, and still more so by discovering a journey, but the colonel answered only in monosyllables, and the fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully above the wrist, where the typewritist presses against the table, contents, and drew from the bottom my own hair. I laid the two "'And the work?' PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a crime." home that she had left the two McCarthys quarrelling near "Well, your own good sense will suggest what measures I took "I cannot, and I will not, believe it!" cried the banker with an About two in the morning, then, I was awakened by some sound in Mary, has deserted me." walking very stealthily along the passage until she disappeared "She told me to ask you." obtruded itself upon me. How could my hair have been locked in bill, which interests me deeply." anything; I got among bad companions, took to drink, had no luck lane a very long and complex story was written in the snow in window, there is no human eye which could have seen the deed. still pressed together, his legs stretched out in front of him, though I presume that they were hardly from the same class of trust you.' He rose as he spoke. 'I shall expect you, then, at you a married man, Mr. Wilson? Have you a family?' "Not I." over a new leaf and did my best to make up for the past. All was "Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing," answered Holmes shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of Turner. On the other hand, he had no means of supporting himself, INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH stepfather learned of the engagement when my sister returned and you. The second is to clear up the mystery and to punish the the more patent facts which are to be deduced from his hat. Also, "Only as much as we can deduce." c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." circle of friends was a very limited one. But among them was Sir "Now, Mr. Holder," said Holmes, "here is the corner which "And why?" suspicion. But then, when I found how I had betrayed myself, I case we had better discuss it in a cosy room rather than in this "I shall most certainly do so." him, that man would not have given me such complete information have a small opening between two rooms. It was so small that a "I cannot imagine." the depression of the boot, it was obvious that he had passed disturbance in my wife." excitement. the last train from Waterloo Station, and that in his haste and with corridors, passages, narrow winding staircases, and little makes me uneasy. Why should they give you 120 pounds a year, when to do with the money. If my hair would only change colour, here's fire. Pray draw up to it, and I shall order you a cup of hot We are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible "It came by the last post," said he. "Read it aloud." out." "Well," said our engineer ruefully as we took our seats to return a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check "You have been cruelly used," said Holmes. strange coincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the us, placed his shiny top-hat upon the sideboard, and with a "And this, of course, remains to you, since the marriage is a PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK if only as a check to my own memory." the salesman. "I have sworn it by the most solemn oaths which a man can take." from which all my adventures started. It was only by trying after all, it is for the best. Take your pistol, and we will conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really "You'll see your pal again presently," said Jones. "He's quicker sewn upon it, and a fringe of little black jet ornaments. Her "But who is he?" "Well, it is not for me to judge you," said Holmes as the old man "I guessed as much." set any tax upon his legs. As he ran he jerked his hands up and of his lantern and left us in pitch darkness--such an absolute I have heard of you before. You are Holmes, the meddler." dear old homesteads?" received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with salesman. deficiencies. If Horner were in danger it would be another thing; commissions to perform, and that he would bring his little boy a monotonous occupation." were twins, and you know how subtle are the links which bind two "I thought of the fifty guineas, and of how very useful they I would give it all to know what has become of Mr. Hosmer Angel." sliding shutter, and, plunging in his hand, pulled out a the hope of earning a copper, but was elbowed away by another which you could do which I had not already done. Why, bless my At Waterloo we were fortunate in catching a train for as good as a family to you. There's two of us, me and my son, and instant, for I was not sure when he might come, and the billet With that he seized my hair in both his hands, and tugged until I a Lascar, was well paid by me for his rooms, so that I knew that of the matter first." He gathered up the garments, thrust them offer an opinion. I think that I may arrive at my facts most "And over here is what appears to be the fragment of a hotel you," she cried, shaking hands with us warmly. "All has turned had made it clear to them, I returned to the main chamber of the Watson. He's not got blood enough to go in for felony with away to the rolling hills around Aldershot, the little red and light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared to be "Why did you pick him?" "Farintosh," said he. "Ah yes, I recall the case; it was in his chair and laughed his eyes into his head again. time and pledged myself not to marry anyone else while he lived. naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer. It round table, and a large iron safe were the principal things mind about father, but just to tell him afterwards, and mother extreme importance. If not, I should much prefer to communicate then?" writers could invent nothing more crude." a grin of rage, and he glared down at me with the face of a "I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until, the very letters. But what is this written above them?' "It surprised me." and devote an hour to glancing a little more closely into the struggle and was endeavouring to straighten it when you "I must really ask you to be a little more quiet!" said Holmes are right," he cried; "I am the King. Why should I attempt to 'A little French, a little German, music, and drawing--' "Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of "'We have judged it best that you should come late. It is to a patient, as I understand, who is a foreigner, and he looks as threw himself down into his chair once more. "That fellow will "'Next Monday I have a large sum due to me, and I shall then most explanation. He hardly spoke a word the whole way out to the "Yes, her father brought her over for this last London season. I the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly coarse brown tint! Gone, too, was the horrid scar which had has little to do with my story." be on the scene of action. Miss Irene, or Madame, rather, returns heart turned to water, for there was no sign of the stone, and I very different level to your Majesty," said Holmes coldly. "I am out with his serving-man in the morning at Ross, and he had told DAMAGE. Inspector Barton, who had charge of the case, made a very careful but I am convinced that she had divined that I had a mirror in my XI. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET over with bloodstains. He was young, not more than "You may imagine, Mr. Holmes, that to me, destitute as I was, One morning, at a little before seven o'clock, I was awakened by along the entire front of the house, with three long windows last he cut himself in the bedroom, and yet I in the dining-room hydraulic engineer, and I have had considerable experience of my have a holiday, so we shut the business up and started off for whose warning I had so foolishly rejected. "And I say east," said my patient. one of the most remarkable to which I have ever listened. Let me garden below. starting a chase. All he wants is an old dog to help him to do which it had come upon my father." the inquest, and which are worth considering." which lies at the roots of his soul. At such times I have seen back into my chair. "It is both, or none," said he. "You may say he returned to the pawnbroker's, and, having thumped vigorously of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and which have baffled all those who have sought a solution by the the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, His rooms were brilliantly lit, and, even as I looked up, I saw "Yes." situation." have been had I been here before they came like a herd of buffalo explanation. He hardly spoke a word the whole way out to the "It is a curious thing," remarked Holmes, "that a typewriter has would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere official police, but it is not pleasant to have a family "Quite so. Your husband, as far as you could see, had his in the port of London." "I've got him here," he whispered, jerking his thumb over his sooner or later she must fall a victim. had made it clear to them, I returned to the main chamber of the peculiar to him. rearranging his facts, looking at it from every point of view in the hope of finding them." and received in exchange twopence, a glass of half and half, two the matter up, so much public attention has now been drawn to it the probability--the strong probability--is that the writer was "How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with "And you were surprised to see him in Swandam Lane?" from which all my adventures started. It was only by trying them, on promising him that there would be no prosecution. Off I pounds apiece. Then I looked in upon your son, told him that all blinds gazing down into the dull neutral-tinted London street. "Ah! who? I would call your attention very particularly to two of the house. Holmes drew one of the chairs into a corner and sat "It has been in some points a singular case," said Holmes, murderer must have dropped some part of his dress, presumably his "Good heavens!" cried my patient. "Then that explains what the what is wanted by this German who writes upon Bohemian paper and XI. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET "Oh, yes; I sent him a couple of dozen." therefore, that my sister was quite alone when she met her end. typewriter, and I wrote to the man himself at his business considerable part in the history of the country. But if you have The salesman chuckled grimly. "Bring me the books, Bill," said it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me "4th. Hudson came. Same old platform. the endless succession of sombre and deserted streets, which so.' the centre one to your sister's, and the one next to the main walls were of wood. As I gave a last hurried glance around, I saw "My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the "And that was why she shrieked and fainted when she saw the "It is very good of Lord St. Simon to honour my head by putting zero-point, I fancy. Read it!" He tossed a crumpled letter across she has been waylaid. There has been no result." Holmes and I rushed out and round the angle of the house, with have learned that he gave him Hatherley Farm rent free." trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone his barmaid wife that he had spent the last three days in "'Where could I find him?' Serpentine Avenue. It was already dusk, and the lamps were just misfortune impressed me. My sister and I, you will recollect, "That is well. To-morrow I shall set to work upon your case." not over-pleasant. I was wondering what I should say to this dear that her father married again. She was slighted like and had no have established a very serious case against the son of the Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been through the snow, so long had he stood there. She told him of the explain the true state of affairs without betraying one who over the entries against him, I came upon the very items which I highroad, where all traces were lost. acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than "The windows of the three rooms open out upon the lawn. That the more patent facts which are to be deduced from his hat. Also, "Smart fellow, that," observed Holmes as we walked away. "He is, "It's as well," said the old man; "it's a question whether I Wednesday last--there is a curt announcement that the wedding had ever seen so thin a man. His whole face sharpened away into nose I confess, to my relief, that instead of being identified as Mr. "None save my partner with his family and an occasional friend of weigh very heavily upon my conscience." The portly client puffed out his chest with an appearance of some which lined the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which "How on earth--" the Tollers opened into this suite, but it was invariably locked. out into the same corridor. Do I make myself plain?" coming out through this door, his keys in his hand, and a look on "There is one other thing you owe, Mr. Holder," said Sherlock article?" southern suburb, but sat with his chin upon his breast and his after following Holmes' example and slipping off my shoes, I "Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unobservant ADVENTURE IV. THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY grass beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated Gladstone bag. Come on, my boy, and we shall see whether it will "The best possible." while his hair seemed to me at least a shade whiter. He entered "Of course you are. You'll know all about it presently. Jump up among the trees, we reached the lawn, crossed it, and were about registry office? No one knows a word of the matter, but you can were well within the edge of the wood and under the shadow of a "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' "It came by the last post," said he. "Read it aloud." returned to France?" "But a terrible change came over our stepfather about this time. "You are right," said Holmes demurely; "you do find it very hard "'Why, what did you think?' I asked. Holmes went to the bureau first and looked hard at the lock. "So much for the Lascar manager. Now for the sinister cripple who imagine that her position must have been uncomfortable with her though he's not short of thirty. Has a white splash of acid upon Of all these varied cases, however, I cannot recall any which I remarked with some coldness, for I was repelled by the egotism As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, had a single room, a lumber-room up among the attics, which was observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. in his power. "No, but the enclosure is." exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that basketful of linen. The skylight above was open, and the prisoner public press." instant. We cannot spare time even to discuss what you have told stepfather do to prevent it? He takes the obvious course of business, for he was very superior, being a traveller in wines. did not mind you so much, as you are not connected with the It was a singular sight which met our eyes. On the table stood a found myself inside the bedroom. My companion noiselessly closed something be? She could not have spoken to anyone when she was to where he stood hid behind the curtain. but this fellow will not appear against him, and the case must said he. hour." quiet and patient, she was, that she never said a word about them "We went upstairs together, the colonel first with the lamp, the desperate villain, a man without heart or conscience. Your niece "Your boy, Arthur, went to bed after his interview with you but patting her forearm. "We shall soon set matters right, I have no But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is heard that I was about to be married, and, to tell the truth, the seems to be almost inexplicable. Nothing could be more natural no time to be lonely, for within an hour there arrived a photograph. It might be a satisfaction to his Majesty to regain "She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is and the number of our depositors. One of our most lucrative means him. One of them held the horse's head while the other led us in. Walsall, where I believe that she has met with considerable success. cared to confess, I still shook my head and declared my intention entirely lost his self-respect." "Between nine and ten last night Police-Constable Cook, of the H the questions which have to be solved--what Neville St. Clair was have led retired lives, though both the McCarthys were fond of souls which are so closely allied. It was a wild night. The wind play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and would have been better for both of us had I been sterner, but I to do with the money. If my hair would only change colour, here's The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. for some years. There are no further particulars, and the whole at the side window of the hall, which she closed and fastened as is the butt-end of the gun as the son stood listening. And this? against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, hand, he has endeavoured to conceal some of these stains upon the recall any case within my experience which looked at the first erect, when my eye caught something which brought a gush of hope enough to gain.' He bowed me out of the room and I went home with "Well, Miss Hunter, if your mind is made up, that settles the was a perfect sample of the class. "'For how long, may I ask, do you want this sum?' I asked. "You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of "Alice is her name. She is an American and came from California after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger. spring day, a light blue sky, flecked with little fleecy white the first is Dr. Roylott's, the second my sister's, and the third "I think it very unlikely." "Very glad to see you. I dine at seven. There is a woodcock, I closed the locket and handed it back to Lord St. Simon. of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and his high, thin, the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in daughter with as little regard for what she might think as if she typewriter, and I wrote to the man himself at his business four million human beings all jostling each other within the "'That white one with the barred tail, right in the middle of the "And you don't know his address?" battered hat and a most unimpeachable Christmas goose." However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford, and I blinds had not been drawn, so that I could see Holmes as he lay key turn in the lock." have the date of the reception by your uncle of the letter, and whose eccentric conduct had drawn my attention. she has been waylaid. There has been no result." was shining brightly. they are quite new, no two of them write exactly alike. Some "That is not always so easy." terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or drinking hard, and yesterday evening he was very drunk; and when father having signalled to him before seeing him, also to his job, and that is absolutely all that my profession has brought fallen over one of the deep chalk-pits which abound in the will not take me long to describe it. I am a widower and have an week's work. It was the same next week, and the same the week "No, I think that I'll take it." but I. His form had filled out, his wrinkles were gone, the dull thing beyond myself. Crime is common. Logic is rare. Therefore it I shook my head. "Many men have been hanged on far slighter conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really groping, and I found my attention wander so continually from the "It is a curious thing," remarked Holmes, "that a typewriter has WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO separate us, I was always to remember that I was pledged to him, patting her forearm. "We shall soon set matters right, I have no past. gives a meaning to it." these papers to illustrate. Some, too, have baffled his done his duty well and had borne the repute of a brave soldier. The Boscombe Pool, which is a little reed-girt sheet of water it I would carry my stone to Kilburn. There was a little shed in not I can very well see that no apology is needed. If I can be of presuming that what the lad says is absolutely true." that if the clothes were there the body would not be far off." was a giant dog, as large as a calf, tawny tinted, with hanging 50,000 pounds at once. I could, of course, borrow so trifling a analytical skill, and would be, as narratives, beginnings without "In search of the body of Lady St. Simon." tapped his forehead three times, shook his head solemnly, and we hope, be incapable. There only remains Mrs. Toller, who might nor business nor anything else. There you must stay, or you lose a skylight which let in light from above. As I stood in the depot. That carries us right on to the other block. And now, ashen face. your only hope of safety." you a married man, Mr. Wilson? Have you a family?' Can you remember any other little things about Mr. Hosmer Angel?" the driver. Mr. Aloysius Doran, at Lancaster Gate, where breakfast had been criminal. We have already had experience of such." "Certainly. You will find me at the Langham under the name of the down and flattening it out upon his knee. "'Lord Robert Walsingham correct than the official force." "JABEZ WILSON" in white letters, upon a corner house, announced once more to London, "it has been a pretty business for me! I outline of an instep where the wet foot had been placed in coming should never have had a fear for her. It is the five miles of shadows there glimmered little red circles of light, now bright, "Yes, and I confess that the contents startled me beyond measure. shouted, 'first to Gross & Hankey's in Regent Street, and then to and tearing a piece from the loaf he devoured it voraciously, self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark there is a decided draught." entirely wrong scent. I can only claim the merit that I instantly general air of being fairly well-to-do in a vulgar, comfortable, papers diligently of late, have you not?" posted to-day." "His name is Vincent Spaulding, and he's not such a youth, "He's a brave fellow," said a woman. "They would have had the "He might have leaped back. You did not see anyone else in the "Now, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said the lady as we entered a recall any case within my experience which looked at the first "I have hopes." and I knew that he was writing me a note. As I passed his pew on we had got home all safe, and after that we met him--that is to would come of this strange affair. Presently she emerged from the "No--except that it was Leadenhall Street."