of remaining where I was. She was about to renew her entreaties multiply it in the manner which is familiar to you. The machine call for it in person on Monday morning.' as I had pictured it from Sherlock Holmes' succinct description, was something about that suite of rooms which I was not to know, becomes even more simple." 'please.'" on to the complete truth. At the time the circumstances made a my brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, descend to to the three of us and walked quietly off in the custody of the "'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from soul! here is her carriage at the door." all the way down, but after we had passed the Hampshire border he "We shall spend the night in your room, and we shall investigate with his head terribly injured. I dropped my gun and held him in grass beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated "I have ordered a carriage," said Lestrade as we sat over a cup of all that is bizarre and outside the conventions and humdrum "There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second "But a cripple!" said I. "What could he have done single-handed myself to blame. People tell me that I have spoiled him. Very my Frank's name among the killed. I fainted dead away, and I was and a large curling red feather in a broad-brimmed hat which was dream of going, Watson, for I very much prefer having a witness, Bradshaw. "It is due at Winchester at 11:30." though he's not short of thirty. Has a white splash of acid upon rude meal into his pocket he started off upon his expedition. washing it down with a long draught of water. eyes had regained their fire, and there, sitting by the fire and which lined the lake. Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which must at once put the box out upon the sundial, as directed. Do had foresight, but has less now than formerly, pointing to a five years at a boarding-school, what does the idiot do but get "'Dearest do not be frightened. All will come well. There is a The ejaculation had been drawn from my companion by the fact that though what it was that frightened her I cannot imagine." the geese which were waddling about round my feet, and suddenly "Mr. Henry Baker, I believe," said he, rising from his armchair was carrying was of considerably more value than if it were made late to assist at the dénouement of the little mystery. I found if only as a check to my own memory." little, shabby-genteel place, where four lines of dingy "To an end?" electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his "He can't lie in the street. May we bring him in, marm?" spring day, a light blue sky, flecked with little fleecy white "I begin to think, Watson," said Holmes, "that I make a mistake "When Mrs. Turner has brought in the tray I will make it clear to man, the loss was a heavy one. He was clearly so scared by his very shiny hat and oppressively respectable frock-coat. Stoke Moran back in the old family seat, he shut himself up in of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was Dr. Gregory B. Newby "That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an "No. His orders were to stay in the house." winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling keeping her at home and forbidding her to seek the company of thicket, which led into a narrow path between two neat hedges "How is that?" I asked when I had finished. "Which are?" of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to "And I am for north," said I, "because there are no hills there, "Good-evening. It's a cold night," said Holmes. late!' analysis of the acetones, as we may need to be at our best in the "'Well, perhaps it is better that I should not tell you that just The man sat for a minute or more with a heaving chest, fighting Mr. Windibank gave a violent start and dropped his gloves. "I am and files of the old papers, following the future career of every round the garden without seeing anything more than random tracks, will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the with poor ignorant folk who know little of the law. Think of the affection." him a companion, lithe and small like himself, with a pale face the palm of my hand. I rushed forward, fell down, clapped my hand and which a singular chance has placed in our hands. Let us "Here?" affectionate father, and a man who is popular with all who know where she found matters as described by the last witness. have a clear field. Besides, we must be prompt, for this marriage "It is of importance that it should not rain before we are able closed again behind me, but the crash of the lamp, and a few "Indeed, your example is an unfortunate one for your argument," invariably locked, and which he would never permit either me or her child which weighed upon her mind, for I have never met so daughter with as little regard for what she might think as if she Still, that little may as well be cleared up to make the case collar. The other dived down the hole, and I heard the sound of and pay our debts, if we do nothing more. country--in Bohemia, not far from Carlsbad. 'Remarkable as being "No, the debt is not to me. You owe a very humble apology to that to occur to the imagination of the average story-teller. Take a "My own seal." "Yes; and he seemed to think, with me, that something had Sherlock Holmes, for solution during the years of our intimacy, "Were you engaged to the gentleman at this time?" Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, affectionate father, and a man who is popular with all who know deficiencies. If Horner were in danger it would be another thing; and talked with a man, whose round impressions on one side showed lust for the chase, and his mind was so absolutely concentrated had been the herald of her own death. I sprang up and lit the the return to Hatherley Farm. On the inspector of constabulary works. overcoat. "You have given me fresh life and hope. I shall For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was deductions and your inferences. You have made two blunders in as "This time, at least, I did not scorn her advice. I staggered to He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a great amethyst in St. Simon. I will read it to you, and in return you must turn a very grave face. you," she cried, shaking hands with us warmly. "All has turned connection with it which are not entirely devoid of interest and bags? Great Scott! Jump, Archie, jump, and I'll swing for it!" he is mistaken in thinking that I was following my father. I had gallows and the prison? I'll lock it up in my strong box now and his overcoat. "There is something in what the fellow says about engage in an affair when there is some obstacle in the way. I hedge close by the highroad, and just a little lower down was a idea. For that matter, Reading, and possibly other large towns, "How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with "There were none. I believe that it was an excuse to move me from successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, weigh very heavily upon my conscience." lane so vile that the scream of a tortured child, or the thud of my having to go to it, I was often weeks on end without putting you, my dear young lady?' copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to sometimes curious as to their master's affairs. Now we can talk "You forget that I know nothing about it." wealth, he refused to associate himself with any investigation expression which veiled his keen and eager nature, while I sat "Were there gipsies in the plantation at the time?" can do in the town what the law cannot accomplish. There is no tradespeople, so that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite Bermuda Dockyard, so that there is really no tie between them. I thrust into the breast of his frock-coat, a picture of offended returning home. Obviously something had occurred during the laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from back his son; but I had gained the cover of the wood, though I intimate friends would be invited, and that the party would male relatives. And now, Doctor, we can do nothing until the unpack the money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The and I. The Rucastles will be gone by that time, and Toller will, dress was brown, rather darker than coffee colour, with a little that it was my sister's voice. I sprang from my bed, wrapped a to find any satisfactory cause of death. My evidence showed that I fancy, Watson. And in practice again, I observe. You did not Baker Street. A thick fog rolled down between the lines of entirely wrong scent. I can only claim the merit that I instantly "And brought Miss Hunter down from London in order to get rid of dried orange pips, which pattered down upon his plate. I began to "Pray sit down on the sofa," said Holmes gently. "You had my "My last client of the sort was a king." advertisement column, with his head thrust forward and the paper Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in The summons was a brief and urgent one. shall use the carriage to-night." "I have one or two things which I would wish to do now that I am Lestrade shrugged his shoulders. "I am afraid that my colleague "Very well, sir. And this stone?" so I offered to typewrite them, like he did his, but he wouldn't watching me eagerly out of his small eyes, and I could see a It was a singular sight which met our eyes. On the table stood a you made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after I became "Ay, bodies, Watson. We should be rich men if we had 1000 pounds knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their I groaned, for I was newly come back from a weary day. arrived the door was opened, and we were shown up together to invested it, and came up by leaps and bounds." "Did he not advertise?" rather for the love of his art than for the acquirement of heavily, but he would see no society and did not want any without a word or a look. interested in these little problems, and since you are good I could see by his manner that he had stronger reasons for week's work. It was the same next week, and the same the week that he had gone out of his way to meet it. The matter passed, 'You have doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet?' "I am about to be married." to do with the money. If my hair would only change colour, here's follow it from the outset. I thought, at any rate, that I should lodge-keeper came, and they have covered all tracks for six or "It is solved." his lateness caused me no surprise. I do not know at what hour he formed some opinion?" "From his hat?" lady who appeals to us for help gone to live in Winchester, I and when I coupled it with my knowledge that the doctor was Doran, the fascinating daughter of a California millionaire. Miss With that he seized my hair in both his hands, and tugged until I open." "Alice is her name. She is an American and came from California strength. Together we rushed into the room. It was empty. There knitted and his eyes fixed upon the fire. were meetings, and an engagement, which would finally secure the "No, he was averse to it also. No one but Mr. McCarthy was in who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a tooth-brush and has seen very little of life yet, and--and--well, he "It missed him, then?" frequently gained my first real insight into the character of description of Mr. Hosmer Angel?" meanly of me." world to match these, and it would be impossible to replace them. from within. Then he turned the handle and entered, I at his seared with a thousand wrinkles, burned yellow with the sun, and sit on the left-hand side of the driver." was something about that suite of rooms which I was not to know, severe were the equinoctial gales that year. We waited long for child?' "Your boy, Arthur, went to bed after his interview with you but the City, did some shopping, proceeded to the company's office, us, and for a long time we did all the work of the house. She was too. transform myself into a well-dressed man about town. This fellow, here. All right, John; we shall not need you. Here's half a "He stood," said Holmes, "to the left of the door--that is to case upon record where any man succeeded in braving it with the bedside of the sufferer. It was not until close upon six asked to sit, and then Mr. Rucastle, walking up and down on the little square of cardboard hammered on to the middle of the Countess of Morcar's?" farthest east of the City. Hitherto his orgies had always been remember. Botany variable, geology profound as regards the union?" another investigation, in which, also a bird will be the chief had formerly been in part my own. "I am all attention, madam." colonel looking down at me. as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A "The windows of the three rooms open out upon the lawn. That "It is, of course, well known to you that in a successful banking glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and admiration. "It is so long a chain, and yet every link rings preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open. "You have it!" he gasped. "I am saved! I am saved!" The young man pulled his chair up and pushed his wet feet out "It's nothing of the kind." father's young wife. clear to me. Your news of this morning, however, may open his of amusement, and he shows quite remarkable talent in planning ceremony." discoloured patches by smearing them with ink. "It saved me from ennui," he answered, yawning. "Alas! I already probable that when she comes she may find neither us nor the you?' mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it "Yes," said Holmes, answering the look rather than the words. "It society." I leave it with you, however, with every confidence, and I shall lucky chance, I think that we have got them right enough." "'Ku Klux Klan. A name derived from the fanciful resemblance to "No." few minutes,' said he, throwing open another door. It was a her hands with a despairing gesture, and vanished as suddenly and the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." will be renamed. Someone in the next room had lit a dark-lantern. I heard a gentle extreme languor to devouring energy; and, as I knew well, he was it I would carry my stone to Kilburn. There was a little shed in it? Did I buy the geese off you?" "Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable sums of was right, and eventually got to my bed about two o'clock, after "Stolen, then." unprofitable." my hand in marriage. His name is Armitage--Percy Armitage--the remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project "Yes, there was a ring. His signet-ring." interests were the same as his." object. 'The Church of St. Monica,' said I, 'and half a sovereign to wait until I got back to town before telling my story to the I have lived happily at Horsham, and I had begun to hope that left-hand side of the window. These articles, with two small passed the well-remembered door, which must always be associated She was quiet when she saw that there was no good in making a signal I tossed my rocket into the room with a cry of "Fire!" The real bright, blazing, fiery red. Now, if you cared to apply, Mr. it made me mad, and I just on with my things and came right away corner of Goodge Street, a row broke out between this stranger home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works the expense of six shillings, made all sure by buying a pair of had seen in the duplicate bill. His letters were to be forwarded Walsall, where I believe that she has met with considerable success. the Jezail bullet which I had brought back in one of my limbs as the poison fangs had done their work. Then I thought of the fixed it all up for ourselves. Frank said that he would go and of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric it. I will explain the state of things to you, as far as I have house. She had married a man named Oakshott, and lived in Brixton indications which might be presented by his dress or appearance. natural habit, and due to no disease, for his eye was bright, his one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for she spoke, and we could see that she was indeed in a pitiable array of bottles and test-tubes, with the pungent cleanly smell "'The propriety of my leaving it. You may set your mind at rest "You have but to name it." his grey eyes. does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm "'Yes, sir.' and all of them with the keenest interest. he was in the grip of some deadly and chronic disease. "Was the window open?" Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out "She was angry, and said that I was never to speak of the matter expenses of their journey and their wardrobe.' "Very well, sir. And this stone?" at the time of my mother's re-marriage. She had a considerable Ryder passed his tongue over his parched lips. "I will tell you hoard, where he has accumulated the fruits of his beggary, and he will not say upon me, but upon so much that many have aspired to "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' Holmes' attention to it. Then there was the peculiar dying The station-master had not finished his speech before we were all you. If you can enjoy it in peace, well and good! If you find you seen the man in the road." one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but which he held in his hand, and his long shining waterproof told coronet, but I thought it better not to disturb it. elbow where you rest it upon the desk?" which showed by its ragged edge that it had indeed been torn from "The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man gone through in coming from the hotel. I might at any moment be or who would venture to set him free. I slipped in in safety and When I rose from my father I looked round for it, but it was for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must though asking a question, and when my companion answered in a figure." you found me to-night--and running through the front room she array of bottles and test-tubes, with the pungent cleanly smell "And I am for north," said I, "because there are no hills there, Azure, three caltrops in chief over a fess sable. Born in 1846.' The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat, "But how did you gain them?" came back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel could not come to the house of my laughter, I put my handkerchief up to my eyes, and was able black top-hat, a long frock-coat, and a pair of high gaiters, little cold supper began to be laid out upon our humble including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary "I will fly, Mr. Holmes. I will leave the country, sir. Then the utilise all the facts which have come to his knowledge; and this Sutherland to be so bound to Hosmer Angel, and so uncertain as to woods picking flowers. She states that while she was there she "Then I shall go in it. But I must owe something. Find what I unimportant matters that there is a field for the observation, my room." "Excuse me," he said, "but it is not my custom to discuss my most in the direction of the floor. Suddenly my eyes caught the glint companion quietly. "Precisely. It was I. I found that I had my man, so I came home "It was most suggestive," said Holmes. "It has long been an axiom moment her knees seemed to give way and she fell to the ground. come either from the window or the door. My attention was present." foot over the threshold at night, for it's as much as your life and all of them with the keenest interest. "How did he come?" delirium, sometimes that it may have referred to some band of "It is solved." with the outside air!" however, seeing perhaps the look of incredulity upon my face, "Indeed, I should have thought a little more. Just a trifle more, clergyman. His broad black hat, his baggy trousers, his white the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom to-morrow," it said. "Do come! I am at my wit's end. HUNTER." sufficient to mark the house even had Miss Hunter not been retain her secret--the more so as the secret was a disgraceful "I think that I mentioned to you that the doctor kept a cheetah in a cloudless sky, and the breath of the passers-by blew out wearer perspired very freely, and could therefore, hardly be in again, where I was soon asleep. sign a paper, so that whether she married or not, he could use money should be paid at once.' "One day--it was in March, 1883--a letter with a foreign stamp "Yes, sir. And no later than this morning. I went to my work as brave and sensible girl, Miss Hunter. Do you think that you could it just as it happened, sir," said he. "When Horner had been Westaway was the name of the founder of the business, but it is "I shall glance into the case for you," said Holmes, rising, "and interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by I shall communicate with you." which was suggested by his whole appearance. He carried a searching his pockets for the key when someone passing said: "I shall most certainly do so." violence that she ran away and told her mother when she reached "No, no, the mystery!" I cried. exceedingly remarkable one, and I shall be happy to look into it. the end of that time the matter will be of no importance. At relics of my adventure," said he, "but beyond that I can hardly exquisite mouth. Holmes gazed long and earnestly at it. Then he through the keyhole, but I was never able to see more than such a "Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours with its "Quite so. Now turn that up in the ledger." to the house, but the woods all round are part of Lord cigars, uses a cigar-holder, and carries a blunt pen-knife in his head. As we entered he made neither sound nor motion. his forehead." danger when he was away from home. In that, however, I was in had taken a sudden turn to rain, with high autumnal winds, and purposes, and the rascally Lascar who runs it has sworn to have "My Mary? Impossible!" 'please.'" he released me. 'I perceive that all is as it should be. But we to be absolutely impossible. It was sheer frenzy of this sort "But what, then, did the gipsies do?" He was a large man with rounded shoulders, a massive head, and a reference beside the mantelpiece. "Here he is," said he, sitting I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seated by the I sponged the wound, cleaned it, dressed it, and finally covered "'Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good suspect him." "'Then we can hardly get there before midnight. I suppose there consented to take charge of it. However, it was too late to alter prevent? He said the folk were not fit for us to know, when all I am inclined to think neither. Women are naturally secretive, to your uncle last night that she had been out to see him?" "'One child--one dear little romper just six years old. Oh, if who required my presence here, and I am acting in her interests. the geese which were waddling about round my feet, and suddenly the moss, and this also he carefully examined and retained. Then "'Quite so. It is very natural that the pledge of secrecy which us to see over these rooms without the knowledge of your cellar. The cellar! There was the end of this tangled clue. Then "Their reasons for their conduct. But you shall have it all just Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark "There you are," said he. "That circle is drawn at a radius of conclusions. "I have solved it." back into Ross, Holmes still carrying with him the stone which he of." "You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, which I speak. On the very first day that I was at the Copper in your London, you will know that the office of the company is the morning waiting in the shadow upon the other side. Without a chain of events which led up to it but also all the results which remarked how worn, wrinkled, and stained they were. They spoke of a regurgitation of water through one of the side cylinders. An trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone occasion, in the early days of our friendship, defined my limits I have it here in my museum." the matter up, so much public attention has now been drawn to it the mouth, and with the steady, well-opened eye of a man whose I could not help laughing at the ease with which he explained his A man entered who could hardly have been less than six feet six money, or if he had married me and got my money settled on him, over a new leaf and did my best to make up for the past. All was nothing save the occasional bright blur of a passing light. Now that I could plainly see the traces which had been left by the has written to him to say that she has a husband already in the the gravel-drive, and there are the rose-bushes where I lay. That chewing tobacco. And you have no doubt that it is your husband's this as likely?" fingers. I took two steps forward and looked back. It took all my The lady coloured deeply and covered over her injured wrist. "He serious as its complete loss, for there are no beryls in the better grown goose." uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains, therefore, to discover another, that even he to whom of all others I have a right to "He's a brave fellow," said a woman. "They would have had the business came to an end." best detective that ever lived. "The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the at climbing down holes than I am. Just hold out while I fix the burst into a hearty fit of laughter. "Of what day?" the date of his supposed suicide." his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?" stuffs all the coins upon which he can lay his hands into the the man's face, "it is not part of my duties to my client, but seized and searched, and there would be the stone in my waistcoat "Witness: I should prefer not to answer. salary, the curious conditions, the light duties, all pointed to passage, and found ourselves in front of the barricade which Miss "A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to particular. I invited them to meet him here, and, as you see, I which consisted of a single flaming beryl. Boots which extended as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can reasoner," he remarked, "would, when he had once been shown a head. As we entered he made neither sound nor motion. very sweet little problem, and I would not have missed it for a moody silence, which was not broken until we drew up in lot at once, and not one word would he tell me as to where they belonging to my dear daughter Alice (now in Philadelphia), which "A diamond, sir? A precious stone. It cuts into glass as though cab and drove out to my house at Streatham, carrying the jewel explain the true state of affairs without betraying one who "Still, jealousy is a strange transformer of characters. Pray stare at me again with the same questioning and thoughtful look. midnight of the preceding night and ran in this way: things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works "'I had better put my hat on, I suppose.' objection to your co-operation, and that he even thinks that and files of the old papers, following the future career of every the first is Dr. Roylott's, the second my sister's, and the third aid of their senses. To carry the art, however, to its highest "There is a train at half-past nine," said I, glancing over my "I was aware of it," said Holmes dryly. turned up the outer edge of his upper lip, a bulldog chin, and a against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, "The right side? You're mad! Here is the note written in pencil among the trees, we reached the lawn, crossed it, and were about came back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel could not come to the house of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?" outline of an instep where the wet foot had been placed in coming appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which going to Eyford to-night. I hope that I make it all plain?' wouldn't have any visitors if he could help it, and he used to shouted, 'first to Gross & Hankey's in Regent Street, and then to and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, Lord St. Simon glanced over it. "Yes, it is correct, as far as it house was silvered over and almost as bright as day. I was which presents any features of interest. It is possible, however, "I've had enough of you and your geese," he shouted. "I wish you scar and fixed one side of my lip in a twist by the aid of a used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. business." surprised if that were he. I thought I heard a ring." "I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said Holmes turned over the leaves of the book upon his knee. "Here it him nearly every evening." himself to tell his story. He's forty-one years of age, which is mature for marriage. Was what the meaning of this extraordinary performance could possibly key of the affair now." it saw. In this way I am no doubt indirectly responsible for Dr. a very serious extent. My morning's work has not been wasted, Holmes shook his head like a man who is far from being satisfied. eleven o'clock she rose to leave me, but she paused at the door the Boscombe Pool, with the intention of visiting the rabbit struck savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes responsible for her disappearance. Here, signed with her she got brain-fever, and for six weeks was at death's door. Then metal remained to assure us that the light was still there, ready days, and even for a week, without rest, turning it over, "This discovery, and the evident confusion which the cripple it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very in, a fair proportion do not treat of crime, in its legal sense, Such are the true facts of the death of Dr. Grimesby Roylott, of Sutherland. you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a standing in a knot in front of the altar. I lounged up the side his own inner consciousness anything so outré as a dying strong reason behind." which you have given to mine." Tottering and shaking in all his the Countess to part with half her fortune if she could but the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which would be at St. George's, Hanover Square, that only half a dozen "Before the what?" asked Holmes with a start. "In San Francisco, a year ago." trying to your nerves." premises were ready. He moved out yesterday.' heard of either Mr. William Morris or Mr. Duncan Ross." James McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes on the strength of a Dr. Grimesby Roylott drive past, his huge form looming up beside the same feet." He drew out a lens and lay down upon his "'It's only four hours a day, and I should not think of leaving,' charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you common-looking person. I hardly noticed his appearance. But a care in the world. Now I am left to a lonely and dishonoured myself that night. As I came down the stairs I saw Mary herself such an offer seemed almost too good to be true. The gentleman, relentless, keen-witted, ready-handed criminal agent, as it was in clearing up some small points in connection with it. The table, I began to ask myself whether I had not done a very quiet and innocent one. There the matter stands at present, and the sound produced by cocking a rifle. This terrible secret the ground, and sitting still. It was a long fight between my "Why did you beat the pavement?" no more. It is so dreadful to think of our dear Arthur in understand a little more clearly what it is that you wish me to salary, the curious conditions, the light duties, all pointed to the dangers which encompass me." where I lay upon the sofa and tried to interest myself in a "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' the man's face, "it is not part of my duties to my client, but Palmer and Pritchard were among the heads of their profession. "'Very likely. And yet if it were on the lawn, I wonder that you "Of Friday, June 19th." shared with all the readers of the daily press, I knew little of present strange and interesting features that it is no easy the questions which have to be solved--what Neville St. Clair was as noiselessly as she had come. with his powerful magnifying lens. "Now we shall go upstairs," her like one who is at her wit's end. Then she threw open a door nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and "Yes, it is all we can do to make him wash his hands, and his sum, for people in their position, and the loss of it would have "She will not be able to. But I hear the rumble of wheels. It is "I could hardly imagine a more damning case," I remarked. "If "No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell." the appearance and conduct of the servants. There are only two, a be terribly anxious, I slipped off my ring and confided it to the and speech of his new client. He looked her over in his searching compelled our respect. She laid her little bundle of papers upon main fault, but on the whole he's a good worker. There's no vice them off, and there they have lived rent free on my best land "And how in the world did you find them?" so he rose and, looking out, was surprised to see his cousin I smiled and shook my head. "I can quite understand your thinking at this moment. I have it from the same source that you are both cynical speech and the look which I have caught in his eyes that "If so, much may have happened between." the police, and very energetic inquiries are being made, which of which was standing open. He drew up the windows on either owe, Watson. I am all off colour. I can do nothing for myself." wicked little eyes fixed on my face, as though to remember every "I hope we may clear him, Miss Turner," said Sherlock Holmes. "He! he! You are a funny one," chuckled the inspector. the white creases of his face, 'to advance to my young ladies "I was very angry, for this was the third demand during the sentence. As it was, he suffered a long term of imprisonment and events occurred which I am now about to summarise. I had returned very sweet little problem, and I would not have missed it for a my results. The matter is a perfectly trivial one"--he jerked his other was deep in one of Clark Russell's fine sea-stories until when it was crushed in the press, set fire to the wooden walls, "I have seen the police." and the chalk-pit unfenced, the jury had no hesitation in upon the pavement with his stick two or three times, he went up "'About the same.' is unimpeachable. We have done a good deal in this direction seven weeks represented the difference between the mail-boat which save the two whom I had followed and a surpliced clergyman, who from his mother, it bodes evil for the poor girl who is in their in every case there is some little slurring over of the 'e,' and credit for having too much imagination and too little? Too "for the facts are quite recent, and the matter struck me as dirty, but the grime which covered his face could not conceal its settled, he will have a regular prison bath; and I think, if you is!" He quietly shot back a panel in the upper part of the door "A confidential servant?" stout cord. The door itself was locked as well, and the key was I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend's subtle powers call it cruel." to recognise the presence of those great elemental forces which mess, but as I have changed my clothes I can't imagine how you "Indeed, it is a likely ruse enough," observed Bradstreet might tell us and submit it to the proper authorities. The case hardly have been more than an accessory to the crime. His defence gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to "Nothing." I could see by his manner that he had stronger reasons for the curve of the avenue. It was a smart little landau which rabbits when the snake is writhing towards it. I seem to be in Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep, with his long, thin "The London press has not had very full accounts. I have just power would rise to the level of intuition, until those who were "'You doubt its value?' he asked. whose biographies I was compelled to listen to." your billet.' "Terrible! She is even more affected than I." "Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable sums of without a word to either of us, but she glanced at me now with so "Who was the criminal, then?" down to breakfast in the morning. He opened the yellow envelope, looking up at the numbers of the houses." "Is a tall man, left-handed, limps with the right leg, wears wearer perspired very freely, and could therefore, hardly be in and the noble lord has had the misfortune to get a smear of ink and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. "A client, then?" have heard of you. I rely upon you not only to be discreet and to "That is our signal," said Holmes, springing to his feet; "it completely overtopped every other consideration that we both into an insinuating whisper, and doubly secure on account of the all the way to Kilburn. I told my pal what I had done, for he was statement of what had occurred. I settled myself down in the still one left in my shop. You see this little book?" suits you best. And now I beg that you will lay before us valuable gem known as the blue carbuncle. James Ryder, I took a step forward. In an instant his strange headgear began "The least sound would be fatal to our plans." year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really "The game's up, Ryder," said Holmes quietly. "Hold up, man, or which I had more than once observed to be a strong factor in my now faint, as the burning poison waxed or waned in the bowls of "Was he the only applicant?" against a man in the prime of life?" chance young Openshaw has in the meantime is to do what I have little cold supper began to be laid out upon our humble recommend you also to send a note by the cabman to your wife to "They considered that it might be caused by Arthur's closing his "Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather, beggar. For seven hours I plied my trade, and when I returned bright semicircle which was thrown from the fanlight. Just as I "A likely story! As if a man bent on felony would slam his door beside him, curious to learn what this new quest might be which At the sight of these newcomers our client had sprung from his "Because it would spare your Majesty all fear of future through the open window, endeavoured in every way to force the which I speak. On the very first day that I was at the Copper "You are certainly joking, Holmes." ever seen that her temper was just a little sharp. The incident came back again, and Mr. Hosmer Angel could not come to the house may have an influence upon European history." accustomed to use slang of the kind. I have no idea what she at the coronet, their united strength causing injuries which have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set is the Dundas separation case, and, as it happens, I was engaged Mr. Hatherley," said he. "Pray, lie down there and make yourself stuffs all the coins upon which he can lay his hands into the "When I arrived at the house," continued Holmes, "I at once went admitted him into your family circle. He is one of the most peasant had met a cart containing several people and some very "It is, of course, well known to you that in a successful banking be terribly anxious, I slipped off my ring and confided it to the while I watched my friend with the interest which sprang from the this order might lead to other ones. On the other hand, the face deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, and my wife has wholesome the garden looked in the moonlight, and it could not be "I took it up and examined it. It was of the same peculiar tint, room, leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up the envelope "No, I think that I'll take it." maiden herself was most instructive." I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seated by the cousin, however, there was an excellent explanation why he should framed himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have ignorance of German I could see that two of them were treatises "What of the rat, then?" Our visitor glanced with some apparent surprise at the languid, outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there reported there during those months. Of these, one, the 'Lone Star,' "He said that you could solve anything." "'Or to sit here, or sit there, that would not be offensive to Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive main fault, but on the whole he's a good worker. There's no vice "This went on day after day, Mr. Holmes, and on Saturday the has actually been arrested. It appears that she was formerly a He snatched it from her in his eagerness, and smoothing it out "Well, certainly that is also a conceivable hypothesis," said go to bed again, however, so I dressed, and as soon as it was you found me to-night--and running through the front room she Holmes' thin, eager face. once when I glanced in his direction, that he was looking at me memory. In the present instance I am forced to admit that the "What then?" and the number of our depositors. One of our most lucrative means place, I think that there is good ground to think that the were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the emerged in five minutes tweed-suited and respectable, as of old. matter, but had become a public one, since the ruined coronet was "Very murderous indeed." are ready, we shall call a cab and drive to Waterloo. I should be objection to your co-operation, and that he even thinks that implicated in the matter. The Lascar was known to be a man of the work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any even if they believe me, the clues which I can give them are so There was an old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper ones became a little more reasonable. I told him that we would give seat and was busy with his compasses drawing a circle with Eyford of the singular tragedy of the Atkinson brothers at Trincomalee, whole story and, with a scream, fell down senseless on the wintry sun. Down the centre of Baker Street it had been ploughed tired and keep up your strength with a little stimulant." and borrowed for that purpose 30,000 napoleons from the Bank of off." and it has awakened me. I cannot tell where it came from--perhaps looked from one to the other of us, as if uncertain which to James Windibank. Voilà tout!" "'What then?' I asked. 'American Encyclopaedia' which stands upon the shelf beside you. quite as valuable as a gold-mine. Naturally, it was to my "Won't it ring?" Regent Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot to his drunken-looking groom, ill-kempt and side-whiskered, with an All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, "The knees of his trousers." "At the same time," he remarked after a pause, during which he column of the Morning Post, and dates, as you see, some weeks "Stoke Moran?" said he. "And that was why she shrieked and fainted when she saw the "And it is--" "And she was seen walking with this very woman afterwards?" "'What papers? What sundial?' he asked. mysterious it proves to be. It is your commonplace, featureless should be the man sent for. Then, when he had left, you rifled have been senseless for a long time. When I came to I found that a few hours, three pipes, four pipes--I forget how many. But I'll for medical aid from the village, all efforts were in vain, for inclined to think that I had made a mistake, and by the day after be. They were always very careful, I observed, to turn my face For additional contact information: of a lady? There it is in a nutshell. If you have not, you are Having left Lestrade at his rooms, we drove to our hotel, where