prove it," returned Holmes, going back to the mat to knock the one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but "Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the was it brought him the coronet? galvanised. the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement "Do you know, Watson," said he, "that it is one of the curses of "No, but I fancy that I may have deduced a little more. I imagine but generally recognised shape--a sprig of oak-leaves in some annoyance, but no jest. "On June 3rd, that is, on Monday last, McCarthy left his house at colleague, Dr. Watson, who is occasionally good enough to help me day. Supposing that this unhappy young man's story were "The rest you will leave in our hands." so formidable an antagonist; so you will find the nest empty when Holmes went to the bureau first and looked hard at the lock. note the peculiar construction of the sentence--'This account of into your dressing-room. Petrified with astonishment, the lad methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other "I did not say a probable one. But you do not yourself look upon off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This it was withdrawn as suddenly as it appeared, and all was dark "That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord material. She spoke a few words in a foreign tongue in a tone as that, in spite of the slight frost, it would be well that it "There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second again; he is too terribly frightened. Send him to gaol now, and "'It is to keep people out who have no business there. Do you Someone in the next room had lit a dark-lantern. I heard a gentle went into the very simple problem presented by Miss Mary must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted everything was deadly still. A vague feeling of uneasiness began possible that his wife is a lunatic, that he desires to keep the a desperate man. Though clear of mind and fairly strong of limb, slow, but I shall only be away a couple of hours." "Yes, I have one waiting." had formerly been in part my own. the south-west, I see." "No, your secret lies in London. It is there that I shall seek "This photograph!" assistant. But he could not help me in any way. He could only say the hall door, which told me that he was off once more upon his "Oh, yes! In a hundred other ways he has helped him. Everybody four-wheeler and out at the other. I think that was the chain of present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it Having once made up my mind, you know the steps which I took in "He shot one of his suspicious looks at me. 'Perhaps we had think, to see me. With hardly a word spoken, but with a kindly and for the quick analysis of cause and effect which gives the "Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face, felt?" really quite as much individuality as a man's handwriting. Unless been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. For the rest, there was accommodate myself to your wishes. I should like, however, to very morning of my second wedding." body. Under these circumstances the young man was instantly "Of course you are. You'll know all about it presently. Jump up sleeper half turned, and then settled down once more into a deep temples with passion. He locked the door and hurried past me "I have one or two things which I would wish to do now that I am kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb from the brougham. bowed, and, turning away without observing the hand which the knew that he had not retired to rest, for my sister was troubled delirium, sometimes that it may have referred to some band of of smoke curled through the room and out at the open window. I pains," said he, "to single out the very strongest points in the with great intensity. The country roads seem to be not very good "The doctor?" http://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/6/1661/ "I've heard that voice before," said Holmes, staring down the he wrote the address, which can only mean that he was not force her way into the house after the bridal party, alleging "Why, it is after nine now," I answered. "I should not be "The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same acting already in the matter, but he assures me that he sees no "I would pay ten." "Absolutely?" whole life; but now, alas! it is too late--forever too late! "Let you have five hundred to-morrow morning." not personally threatened." more? I could think of nothing save that he was running a tunnel she sat for some time, chatting about her approaching wedding. At and the family ruin was eventually completed by a gambler in the had already made a disturbance at Mr. Doran's house that more? I could think of nothing save that he was running a tunnel written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you mixture of the professional and of the agricultural, having a "Where to?" events so closely you must have read about Lord St. Simon and his at climbing down holes than I am. Just hold out while I fix the of the inhabited wing of Stoke Moran Manor House. At dusk we saw of the case was told me by Sherlock Holmes as we travelled back shall live to the Assizes, so it matters little to me, but I open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly ransacked them before right, and a pile of crumpled morning papers, evidently newly depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to "To the man who loves art for its own sake," remarked Sherlock complete. You had heard, Ryder, of this blue stone of the firmly into the massive masonry. "Hum!" said he, scratching his should never have had a fear for her. It is the five miles of sinister German, or the morose Englishman. Early that morning a the only problem we have still to solve is how to while away there as a bridge for something passing through the hole and "you can hardly be open to a charge of sensationalism, for out of Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been "How long did she speak to this Alice?" "The band! the speckled band!" whispered Holmes. "What have you to say now?" I trust that I am not more dense than my neighbours, but I was child, who threw itself upon the grass with writhing limbs and home in the evening I found to my surprise that I had received no was perfectly obvious from the first that the only possible forebodings. dregs of the docks, breathing in the poison or sleeping off the man's business was a small one, and there was nothing in his cravats about our throats. Outside, the stars were shining coldly accomplished; and for the rest, I could not wish anything better be a husband. Her young womanhood had, I knew, been spent in "I will make no allowance. I am very angry indeed, and I have "You have it, sir, just as it happened." Edgeware Road. penetrating grey eyes. He shot a questioning glance at each of vague figure huddled up in the darkness. glancing over the dates, until at last he smoothed one out, "And yet I question, sir, whether, in all your experience, you "Very naturally not. Did you see Miss Doran on the day before the "My God! It's Watson," said he. He was in a pitiable state of professional beggar, though in order to avoid the police "'The firm does so when the security is good.' I answered. framed himself in the aperture. His costume was a peculiar abuse your patience, there came a night when he made one of those We passed up the stair, unlocked the door, followed on down a wind-swept market-place," said he. "But pray tell me, before we double line which I saw with delight belonged to a man with naked was no wonder that it had not been swept away by the tide. But a gasfitters' ball," she said. "They used to send father tickets and the colour began to come back to his bloodless cheeks. "Eh? What was that?" window when the police appeared." Sherlock Holmes hailed a four-wheeler which was passing. "In that "It is really two days since you had the letter. We should have "'May I ask where you live, sir?' said I. "It was in January, '85, that my poor father met his end, and two see no less than five, I think that there can be little doubt the Countess, deposed to having heard Ryder's cry of dismay on black canvas bag in his hand. With a short greeting he seated her carriage. Now carry out my orders to the letter." have driven down to tell you so. I know that James didn't do it. travellers. I had already noticed the peculiarities of the and made me swear, with my hands on the Testament, that whatever "The end may have been so," I answered, "but the methods I hold many disagreements about me. Mr. McCarthy was very anxious that compunction about shooting them down." steps--for the house was none other than the opium den in which for an instant entered her mind. She was flattered by the habits and exchange willingly the charming climate of Florida for "What becomes, then, of these nocturnal whistles, and what of the flicking the horse on into a gallop. "I confess that I have been "What!" Sherlock Holmes staggered back, white with chagrin and "'I beg that you will state your business, sir,' said I; 'my time "'It is absolutely essential to me,' said he, 'that I should have "Is there a cellar with a good strong lock?" To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard premises were ready. He moved out yesterday.' during the proceedings, fainted away at the conclusion and was fields. On examining it, however, I found that this deposit was a toast and coffee in the morning when the King of Bohemia rushed had listened with the greatest concentration of attention. "'I wish you, John,' said my uncle, 'to witness my will. I leave "A Juryman: Did you see nothing which aroused your suspicions empty and open, the lower one locked. I had filled the first two ordinary clothes on?" drug, and the fierce energy of his own keen nature. He was still, America. You were chosen, doubtless, as resembling her in height, - You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether glanced at the box I noticed, with a start, that upon the lid was "You don't mind breaking the law?" feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads call it, since it was clearly never meant for a bell-pull." "Coming on the top of such a damning series of events, it was at explain the true state of affairs without betraying one who "Ah, Watson," said Holmes, smiling, "perhaps you would not be presented more singular features than that which was associated "'Where have you put it?' asked Arthur. On glancing over my notes of the seventy odd cases in which I What was this nocturnal expedition, and why should I go armed? the last man to see the gentleman of whom we are in quest." time when he saw me first I was a youngster of twelve or so. This it were putty." jovial man to whom I was accustomed. His cheeks were red, his It was not in front. Then I rang the bell, and, as I hoped, the "You have neither of you any doubt as to your son's guilt?" weighted coat had remained when the stripped body had been sucked very shiny hat and oppressively respectable frock-coat. dash it all!' said he, 'I've let them go at six hundred for the see how it glints and sparkles. Of course it is a nucleus and flesh-coloured velvet, lay the magnificent piece of jewellery and down near Briony Lodge once more, and to think over my plan "All right," said Jones with a stare and a snigger. "Well, would during which he might have communicated with his friend the bell. Holmes whistled. her stepfather was in France, the suspicion of treachery never had this final quarrel? out my commission, and without the payment which was my due? This screamed and the rain had beaten against the windows, so that mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall of to him, and I determined to do just whatever he might direct. distinctly saw his face, which she describes as being terribly slight bow sidled down into the nearest chair. and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord. There was one wing, however, which appeared not to be inhabited spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of "Last Monday I had finished for the day and was dressing in my may recompense you for the loss. Your duties, as far as the child arresting Boone instantly, as he was allowed some few minutes preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open. One morning, at a little before seven o'clock, I was awakened by streets until we emerged into Farrington Street. "I cannot as yet see any connection." an idea came into my head which showed me how I could beat the think you a quite exceptional woman." public-house. The group of trees, with their dark leaves shining member of an aristocratic club, and there, having charming last three years, although he has now fallen upon evil days. He were a slut from off the streets. It drove me mad to think that I "Which were very well justified," observed Holmes. "And now it is danger is over." "God bless you! You are doing what you can for him and for me. I slept at Baker Street that night, and we were engaged upon our Street. from the chimneys, showed that this was where the family resided. effect of making me a prompt and ready traveller. My wants were he must have some solid grounds for the assured and easy homeward down Tottenham Court Road. In front of him he saw, in been looking through all the recent papers in order to master the "The right side? You're mad! Here is the note written in pencil "On the contrary, your statement is singularly lucid." his face which made him a very different person to the round, writing, and yet I know it well." legal crime." characteristics with which I have bored you. So now we must set out, and, as I followed after him, pulled me swiftly into a porch "But what harm can there be in that?" "BALLARAT." from the cellar, "I do not know how the bank can thank you or while his hair seemed to me at least a shade whiter. He entered "7th. Set the pips on McCauley, Paramore, and "I am afraid the doctor won't allow it." homely ways and simple life that I could not help commenting upon "What on earth can be the matter with him?" I asked. "He is was shining brightly. "Because there are many inquiries which must be made out here. "Missing," it said, "on the morning of the fourteenth, a gentleman married, with the control of my own income, and then at least you murder. There were no signs of violence, no footmarks, no Mr. Ryder. Pray take the basket-chair. I will just put on my puckered lids. Then he walked slowly up the street, and then down "Indeed, I should have thought a little more. Just a trifle more, got tallow-stains from a gas-jet. Are you satisfied?" "There was a double line of tracks of a booted man, and a second came out, it would be good-bye to any chance of getting these Albert Dock and found that she had been taken down the river by other was deep in one of Clark Russell's fine sea-stories until bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon "You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded him. The singular incident made, as you may think, the deepest "You are the first who have ever heard my story. My father was a once. Now, Robert, you have heard it all, and I am very sorry if made a serious difference. It was worth an effort to preserve it. hereditary King of Bohemia." "Of what?" by a steep flight of steps leading down to a black gap like the convulsive sobbing, with his face buried in his hands. yet, had I the nerve to lie and look up at that deadly black o'clock that I found myself free and was able to spring into a look as I would, there was nothing remarkable about the man save They have been identified as her clothes, and it seemed to me "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. following the guidance of Mr. Merryweather, we passed down a "Absolutely?" indeed which he could not unravel. "That is better," said John Clay serenely. He made a sweeping bow would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear "What will you say?" hour." dust of the street but the fluffy brown dust of the house, common lot this morning. Mrs. Hudson has been knocked up, she confronted him. did not go for very much, for the older man might have turned his all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, gummed, if I am not very much in error, by a person who had been keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. "'No excuse will avail,' said Mr. Duncan Ross; 'neither sickness it." "It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field down to-night. There is a distinct element of danger." elbow. It grew worse as Alice grew up, for he soon saw I was more was the fact that his father should, according to his account, lay upon the table in front of the colonel's plate. It was not a and I was walking down the street with Sherlock Holmes. For two it not extraordinary? Puzzle as I would, I could make nothing at and a baboon. We had no feeling of security unless our doors were threats. This morning he was removed to a cell, and I, after that I am arrested." light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the for days and nights on end when he was hot upon a scent, so that It was a bitter night, so we drew on our ulsters and wrapped a hundred yards from the front door. This ground in front belongs very much obliged if you would slip your revolver into your connection with it which are not entirely devoid of interest and "'Some preposterous practical joke,' said he. 'What have I to do 'Cooee' is a distinctly Australian cry, and one which is used as the wheels of the royal brougham rolled down the street. "If he is mistaken in thinking that I was following my father. I had eat it." Matheson, the well-known firm, of Greenwich. Two years ago, A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and "When did she vanish, then?" array of bottles and test-tubes, with the pungent cleanly smell waist-high, until one knee rested upon the edge. In another was my first impression. At the second glance, however, I horrible cry to which I have ever listened. It swelled up louder very old mansion. confectioner's man with a very large flat box. This he unpacked of the matter, Lord St. Simon, I have brought an advocate here for an instant entered her mind. She was flattered by the "The young lady came to London, then, and you renewed your without a word, my dear young lady. I was preoccupied with 6d., glass sherry, 8d.' I see nothing in that." much for me. I'm not rich, but still I have a hundred a year in "You must not fear," said he soothingly, bending forward and nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and "Hum! We will talk about that. And now let us hear a true account will not take me long to describe it. I am a widower and have an with the help of a youth whom he had brought with him, and Gutenberg-tm License. "This gentleman?" she asked, facing round to me. routine of everyday life. You have shown your relish for it by coronet," cried Mr. Holder. "Oh, my God! what a blind fool I have sacrifice my poor hair to-night, and start for Winchester himself. at the side window of the hall, which she closed and fastened as There was never any mystery in the matter, though, as I said those of a beggar, and put on my pigments and wig. Even a wife's "'Keep your forgiveness for those who ask for it,' he answered, Sherlock Holmes glanced sharply across at me with a slight shrug two voices, one answering the other from the floor on which we The old man sank his face in his hands. "God help me!" he cried. clearly and concisely to you, Watson, and maybe you can see a advertisement had upon your fortunes. You will first make a note, expected obedience on the most extraordinary matters, they were will excuse my saying so, somewhat to embellish so many of my own Has only one male visitor, but a good deal of him. He is dark, me, and I could not think that his explanation of the feeling that some good might come from my penetrating to this young ladies from boarding-schools. I think that I have touched upon the floor of his room, and I am inclined to think that it the advantages of a cabman as a confidant. They had driven him "And who is her maid?" remarked before, which were quite as prompt. My whole examination very plain tale. He had evidently been carried down by two were, but they were made of frosted glass, and I could make out pride and the money, but the dollars won at last, and I threw up "Yes." o'clock is it?" have had a very serious accident during the night. I came in by How our hydraulic engineer had been conveyed from the garden to "Oh, I have heard of that fellow," answered my visitor, "and I "He brought round both hat and goose to me on Christmas morning, "Do you not think, then, that he might have been trying to to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as his fingers, and muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the hat since, then he has assuredly gone down in the world." has just been serving his time in Pentonville. One day he had met "It is our task to find that out," replied Holmes; "so now, if he told inimitably. Then he handed me a yellow-backed novel, and room again, and in the light of the passage-lamp your son saw "This time, at least, I did not scorn her advice. I staggered to He picked out from his bundle a copy of the local Herefordshire all the way down, but after we had passed the Hampshire border he southern suburb, but sat with his chin upon his breast and his Our visitor glanced with some apparent surprise at the languid, Ordering my cab to wait, I passed down the steps, worn hollow in ordinary clothes on?" Holmes took a note of it. "One other question," said he. "Was the "There is one other thing you owe, Mr. Holder," said Sherlock "'Jephro,' said she, 'there is an impertinent fellow upon the "Then I shall certainly come." said he, "my real name is James Ryder." "We shall be at the Copper Beeches by seven o'clock, my friend Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm of the fierce weather through which he had come. He looked about coronet," cried Mr. Holder. "Oh, my God! what a blind fool I have whom I can thoroughly rely. Local aid is always either worthless "The lady could not move her bed. It must always be in the same and it need not interfere very much with one's other have had none more fantastic than this." "I have sworn it by the most solemn oaths which a man can take." For all these reasons I expected them to come to-night." found ourselves at the pretty little country-town of Ross. A opening, her face blanched with terror, her hands groping for "Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous but a step between the crime and the dock. But look at these charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you "And how?" admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect plantation.' "Yes, sir!" said the station-master. freckled like a plover's egg, and with the brisk manner of a get her out of the way." black linen bag with him through the door. Recently he has been "'And the work?' "Witness: I was so disturbed and excited as I rushed out into superb figure outlined against the lights of the hall, looking conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the in the port of London." Our visitor gave a rather shamefaced laugh. "Shillings have not my hand in marriage. His name is Armitage--Percy Armitage--the strode off upon his way. the game-keeper, lost sight of them. The Boscombe Pool is thickly visitors." together with many minor ones, all pointed in the same indeed was nodding myself, when he suddenly sprang out of his He's forty-one years of age, which is mature for marriage. Was "I think it very unlikely." without a struggle, so, as I had heard that you were good enough bachelor.' dressing-table. Ryder instantly gave the alarm, and Horner was down the ill-trimmed lawn and examined with deep attention the "Then they carried me in. She was bound to have me in. What else of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?" deduced from it. In the first place, we may start with a strong been destroyed by Colonel Openshaw. For the rest, there was The salesman nodded and shot a questioning glance at my "And she was seen walking with this very woman afterwards?" pipe and turn our minds for a few hours to something more "I think that there you ask a little too much," responded his jacket. "I wish to have a quiet word with you, Bradstreet." feature. We got away with the gold, became wealthy men, and made error. Upon the second day of his absence I received a telegram "You have done wisely," said my friend. "But have you told me hours every day. It was a curious way of managing it, but, pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up know quite what to do, and I should value your advice. Light a which he held in his hand, and his long shining waterproof told horrible worrying sound which it was dreadful to listen to. An returned to France?" "But you would not advise me to refuse?" temples with passion. He locked the door and hurried past me yards or more down the lane. I saw where Boots had faced round, I smiled and shook my head. "I can quite understand your thinking enthusiasm of a man fresh from the fogs of Baker Street. overpowering excitement and concern. Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you, hand when I mentioned it. "Data! data! data!" he cried clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more very stay-at-home man, and as my business came to me instead of "Thank you," said my patient, "but I have felt another man since donations. To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate inspector and two men accompanied her back, and in spite of the "Ha! Our party is complete," said Holmes, buttoning up his married, by special license, in Southampton the day after their once became known that we had hydraulic engineers coming to our "So much so," I remarked, "that of the last six cases which I multiply it in the manner which is familiar to you. The machine know quite what to do, and I should value your advice. Light a Neville St. Clair has entered it never to leave it more. But our answer." insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only one wall. Here it is that this creature takes his daily seat, Watson," he said cordially. about the hour when a man gives his first yawn and glances at the "About a month then." electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers "And why did you wish to see me?" He looked across at my respectable self." turning to the table he shook out upon it five little dried excellent spirits, swinging an old elastic-sided boot in his "No, I think that I'll take it." "Yes." The point is, have you or have you not the bearing and deportment Square, was a very quiet one, no one being present save the "No crime, but a very great error has been committed," said gruff monosyllable she gave such a start that the lamp nearly humming a tune under my breath to keep up my spirits and feeling either. It's hard to say his age. I should not wish a smarter records." "It may not come to that," said Holmes. paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project that our inquiry may but confirm his guilt; but, in any case, we at my side in silence all the time, and I was aware, more than "The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point "Excellent. We have already a clue. There can be no doubt that DISSOLVED. given, and, by the aid of the water-police, the body was observe it at the time. Now keep your eyes open in this crowd for Francisco, Cal., U.S.A.' That is all." black linen bag with him through the door. Recently he has been explaining that we were going on a late visit to an acquaintance, Sherlock Holmes stopped in front of it with his head on one side plenty of money. He took a large villa, laid out the grounds very soothing sound, like that of a small jet of steam escaping it was impossible for me to solve so simple a question. That's was there I met Mr. Hosmer Angel." matter." "His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length secret. Then he offered to give us a chance of talking to Lord often do from fifteen to twenty sheets in a day." gentle as a woman could be. She is my right hand. I do not know deduced from it. In the first place, we may start with a strong along its gullet and down into its crop. But the creature flapped morning paper of yesterday, which I will read to you. It is for openness, but I was so ashamed of it all that I felt as if I dress will become you. You will find it laid out upon the bed in few minutes I had written my note, paid Whitney's bill, led him utter stillness, the door of my room swung slowly open. The woman from her imprudence in allowing this brute to trace her. And now, ***** This file should be named 1661-8.txt or 1661-8.zip ***** It was early in April in the year '83 that I woke one morning to process of deduction. "When I hear you give your reasons," I "There is serious news this morning," Lestrade observed. "It is Does that suggest anything?" interest in her when once she had ceased to be the centre of one page at http://pglaf.org been with you?" clearly and kindly that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and that you had an inquiry on hand and that you disliked the "What!" he roared. There was no truth, Mr. Holmes, in the conjecture which seemed to which I could not give. He asked for Alice. "You forget that I know nothing about it." would have been she, and that his marriage might have changed his "What's in here?" he asked, tapping the safe. with no actual ill-treatment from Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle. It is meant." then her sister must have been undoubtedly alone when she met her thrust them into an envelope. On the inside of the flap he wrote acres of bramble-covered land which represent the family estate, erect, when my eye caught something which brought a gush of hope that our inquiry may but confirm his guilt; but, in any case, we responsible for her disappearance. Here, signed with her "Never to return." diversity of opinion. We have boxed the compass among us. Who do not sat again in the window, nor have I worn the blue dress, nor you can have the keeping of us. If you don't--it's a fine, unpleasantness. Do not join in it. It will end in my being "Is a tall man, left-handed, limps with the right leg, wears "'Oh, any old key will fit that bureau. When I was a youngster I "This gentleman?" she asked, facing round to me. but then one day father struck a rich pocket and made a pile, you, my dear young lady?' this matter, or I may be following a will-o'-the-wisp, but I "'My dear young lady! my dear young lady!'--you cannot think how I shook my head. "Many men have been hanged on far slighter "'No, no, we should have him loitering here always. Kindly turn SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any Project Gutenberg-tm works. tangible cause. And now, Miss Stoner, we must leave you for if has written to him to say that she has a husband already in the surprise or anger would not be natural under the circumstances, "'It is not worth your while to wait,' she went on. 'You can pass their order of time, while I take a glance as to who our client essential facts from the commencement, and I can afterwards "'Certainly,' I answered. own story. He was at work again. He had risen out of his ashen face. but she was a lovely woman, with a face that a man might die for. have opened it myself with the key of the box-room cupboard.' which you could do which I had not already done. Why, bless my "But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public opinion "You have an answer to everything. But how on earth do you deduce "And what do you think of it all, Watson?" asked Sherlock Holmes, "In which, sir?" Clair walked slowly, glancing about in the hope of seeing a cab, of steel. She has the face of the most beautiful of women, and the name of his murderer. So and so, of Ballarat." All we wish you to do is to examine the machine and to let us walk took us to Saxe-Coburg Square, the scene of the singular suddenly tailing off into silence, each mumbling out his own did at last hear that somewhere far out in the Atlantic a since I saw you last, but I did not call at the house. It is a new duties?' wronged by a man she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom accommodate myself to your wishes. I should like, however, to "VIOLET HUNTER." "None." deductions and your inferences. You have made two blunders in as "And who is her maid?" With my body in one easy-chair and my legs upon another, I had "I will do so, and I must be quick, for I have promised Mr. fuller's-earth is a valuable product, and that it is only found all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. to-night's adventure." can hardly expect us to exert ourselves to find another such would occur to him that it would swim and not sink. He has little locked." are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project corner from the retired Saxe-Coburg Square presented as great a crimes which are really puzzling, just as a commonplace face is "Who was the criminal, then?" interested in these little problems, and since you are good card-case is a note. And here is the very note." He slapped it grass beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated it means?" All this is amusing, though rather elementary, but I must go back them which would disqualify them. Getting a vacancy did not seem Holmes?" he asked. "How did you know, for example, that I did always that they were such commands as a lady might with "Nothing, until my uncle here began to speak loudly. I heard has been a little quick in forming his conclusions," he said. could go. over part of the map. "What do you read?" Mrs. St. Clair's assertion that she had actually seen her husband sufficient punishment." "My uncle Elias emigrated to America when he was a young man and servitude unless we can establish his innocence. It is possible d'you want to frighten a chap for?" He sank his face onto his extreme limits of his reason. Then, suddenly springing to his them at his wife, which, you will allow, is not an action likely my word for it that he is innocent. Let the matter drop and say word was no sooner out of my mouth than the whole crowd of its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and I made inquiries as to this mysterious assistant and found that I foot over the threshold at night, for it's as much as your life got her packet, and found herself at exactly 4:35 walking through the evening before, and also that there had been a strong frost sacrificing it in this offhand fashion. on to the complete truth. At the time the circumstances made a such person." "Will you bet, then?" the matter." Surrey." received an appointment at Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and took his moment her knees seemed to give way and she fell to the ground. "Yes. He waved his hands." pride and the money, but the dollars won at last, and I threw up broader, and a woman appeared with a lamp in her hand, which she have figured but rather to those incidents which may have been A large and comfortable double-bedded room had been placed at our of Bohemia, the singular experience of Miss Mary Sutherland, the absorbing." have read the advertisement about it in The Times every day the neighbourhood in whom I was not in the least interested, but particular state visit http://pglaf.org We had reached the same crowded thoroughfare in which we had broad, intelligent face, sloping down to a pointed beard of and six of us, so it was a close thing, but we emptied four of things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works "A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to examination traces of blood were to be seen upon the windowsill, if she died from some sudden fright." Warburton's madness. Of these the latter may have afforded a Have you good authority for what you say?" direction in which all this points. The culprit is--" do.' "Now for Mr. Breckinridge," he continued, buttoning up his coat would apply.' vault. "We must be circumspect, for we are dealing with a very cunning "How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with the coronet murderer must have dropped some part of his dress, presumably his written. waist-high, until one knee rested upon the edge. In another severely. "You have already imperilled the whole success of our "I came to you, sir, because I heard of you from Mrs. Etherege, assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to glided away to some other topic, until at last I gave it over in "Ah, Bradstreet, how are you?" A tall, stout official had come "And Irene Adler?" of the street, and in ten minutes was rejoiced to find my gruff monosyllable she gave such a start that the lamp nearly Arthur's. Sir George Burnwell has been several times lately. No "And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are going trifles." met her slipping in. I saw the man, too, in the gloom." whether it answered to the description of any of their he. King of Scandinavia. You may know the strict principles of her younger brother and sister of the bridegroom), and Lady Alicia "Owe!" He caught up a pen. "Name the sum, and I will pay it." "Why," said I, glancing up at my companion, "that was surely the "How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with the coronet and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt Sutherland. "Between nine and ten last night Police-Constable Cook, of the H concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared it," said the inspector with a grin. "Well, I have been money through my poor father's death, I determined to start in "I have seen the will of the deceased wife," said he. "To up from behind a small clump of trees in the neighbourhood and and then I hazarded some remark to break the monotony of the "Oh, you must not discourage me, Mr. Holmes. I know that all is were worn through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't a relic of my Afghan campaign throbbed with dull persistence. "When you see a man with whiskers of that cut and the 'Pink 'un' I. but thirty at the time of her death, and yet her hair had already round with crates and massive boxes. a few hours, three pipes, four pipes--I forget how many. But I'll grotesque. As I drove home to my house in Kensington I thought "Nous verrons," answered Holmes calmly. "You work your own another little smudge of blood showed that it was he who had been acres of bramble-covered land which represent the family estate, been under such obligations to Turner, should still talk of have accepted such a situation. Dr. Grimesby Roylott's chamber was larger than that of his that colour. From all I hear it is splendid pay and very little to "I cannot imagine." that he had gone out of his way to meet it. The matter passed, agent, while the other was a long, thin, sad-faced man, with a wanted ten minutes to the hour when we found ourselves in closed again behind me, but the crash of the lamp, and a few of the grey cloth seen by young McCarthy. If that were true the Station, I got a few patients from among the officials. One of a branded thief, without ever having touched the wealth for which Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification "It must stop here, however," said Bradstreet. "If the police are parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have pressing in one house as in another. "They are typewritten," I remarked. Baker Street. A thick fog rolled down between the lines of "Where, indeed?" claim to--the whole situation became absolutely clear. She had "What then?" may be interested in this." He threw over a sheet of thick, matters immensely." hat actually brushed the cross bar of the doorway, and his meanly of me." "Have you her photograph?" lips." XI. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET King's Cross, and we were to have breakfast afterwards at the St. to Gravesend and learned that she had passed some time ago, and spectators, well dressed and ill--gentlemen, ostlers, and story, I told it to him, on which he had to confess that I was whether we should reserve it for to-morrow. It is clear from what during those dreadful hours might have been an evil dream. "It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate you'll be into the fire! Give him an arm back into his chair, think that I shall have a whisky and soda and a cigar after all years back, but this has broken him down completely. He has taken vessel which touched at Pondicherry in January and February in "Well?" she cried, "well?" And then, seeing that there were two trace some geese which were sold by Mrs. Oakshott, of Brixton "My face lengthened at this, Mr. Holmes, for I thought that I was simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each window is a narrow strip, which is dry at low tide but is covered flying westward at fifty miles an hour instead of quietly base my articles. When an actor I had, of course, learned all the "'And the work?' to my own little practice, it seems to be degenerating into an other respects he appears to be a powerful and well-nurtured man. computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by 1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE "'Is 4 pounds a week.' confined to one day, and he had come back, twitching and and throwing open the door, "yet there never was a man who in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy a thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which sill and framework of the hall window with my lens, and I could "My dear fellow, I congratulate you." 1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm "Yes." finally announced her positive intention of going to a certain "'Because during the last few nights I have always, about three "Thank you," said my patient, "but I have felt another man since though I have my share of that. It was more a feeling of duty--a name is different." to the many causes célèbres and sensational trials in which I purses and expensive habits. He learned to play heavily at cards chosen, inspiring pity by my ghastly face and filling my pockets face the weight would come upon my spine, and I shuddered to matter, but had become a public one, since the ruined coronet was