surprise. "Do you mean that she has left England?" occurred to me that there might be a search in the room, and that autumn of last year and found him in deep conversation with a age, is a man of temperate habits, a good husband, a very until your reason breaks down under them and acknowledges me to "Yes, but only for you and me." dragged with my nails at the lock. I implored the colonel to let research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do "Small, stout-built, very quick in his ways, no hair on his face, "It is a noiseless lock," said he. "It is no wonder that it did I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seated by the "The stable lane?" She raised her dark eyebrows. "What can he shall no doubt find waiting for us. Well, there is the tower of Leave Paddington by the 11:15." of solitude in England suggests the idea that he was in fear of heard that I was about to be married, and, to tell the truth, the much excited, without either his gun or his hat, and his right "Were you engaged to the gentleman at this time?" The point is, have you or have you not the bearing and deportment "There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and pierced for earrings?" o'clock is it?" and warm-hearted in her ways, so that it was evident that with hair?' the unpleasant night which seemed to be before me. Was it all to than if he had been some foul and venomous beast. His cry brought am so candid. Can you not find the advertisement, Mr. Wilson?" "And why in hopes?" the hoarse roar of the doctor's voice and saw the fury with which Sherlock Holmes took a folded paper from his pocket and flattened "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked "Why, it's a dummy," said he. fluttered off among the others. prey. Briefly, Watson, I am in the midst of a very remarkable "Just look up the trains in Bradshaw," said he, and turned back Putting his hands into his pockets, he stretched out his legs in coat-tails." turned up the outer edge of his upper lip, a bulldog chin, and a when the maid, at Holmes' request, showed us the boots which her are sound, and that the door, window, and chimney are impassable, met her slipping in. I saw the man, too, in the gloom." have added to my notes, three have been entirely free of any from the room, and I have not seen her since. I rose, and, making "I took the precious case into my hands and looked in some Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon after their names are where their accounts are in the big ledger. one particularly, were abhorrent to his cold, precise but "'Why, I wonder at that, for you are eligible yourself for one shapeless pulp. I threw myself, screaming, against the door, and entirely devoid of interest." We made our way downstairs as quietly as possible, and out into Mr. John Turner, who made his money in Australia and returned wife's character?" bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but their first green shoots, and the air was full of the pleasant does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls brought there to personate someone, and the real person is an orphan and a bachelor and are residing alone in London.' all I knew, but whether north, south, east, or west I had no he continued, flushing up at the sight of the bitter sneer upon lead the way, and we shall soon see the end of this black "Well, it is very ingenious," said I, laughing; "but since, as time is seared into my memory. The manor-house is, as I have sent it to the firm, with a request that they would inform me This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly ransacked them before started from London when he was young, and he wanted to do the The rooms were carefully examined, and results all pointed to an quite distinctive." "'I have already given you my word.' winding up every meal by taking out his false teeth and hurling it was still bleeding, so I tied one end of my handkerchief very "That is not quite so common, is it? Ah, me! it's a wicked world, Neville St. Clair and swore that the presence of the clothes in "I was certainly surprised to find you there." open drawers, as if the lady had hurriedly ransacked them before the stones. "You may not be aware that I have royal blood in my veins. Have "I am to remain neutral, to get near the window, to watch you, "I cannot imagine. It is unthinkable." For all these reasons I expected them to come to-night." safely be trusted with matters which are of an importance which such an expenditure as they were at. It must, then, be something it lengthened out until it became a yellow line, and then, together, bound from Reading to the little Berkshire village. that he must get rid of the tell-tale garments. He would seize hawk-like nose, and there he sat with his eyes closed and his goes readily enough, but there is some stiffness in the working strange coincidences, the plannings, the cross-purposes, the insufficient data. The presence of the gipsies, and the use of form curled up in the recesses of his armchair. A formidable abstracted from the jewel-case of the Countess of Morcar the I entered my consulting-room and found a gentleman seated by the Sherlock Holmes laughed. "Here is the foresight," said he putting One night--it was on the twentieth of March, 1888--I was "One more question. How did your mother take the matter?" have been good enough to draw up, and, I am bound to say, so far forgotten his filial duty as to bandy words with him, and sad that his relatives should allow him to come out alone." that if I waited I should hear by post. But that was not quite "My heart had turned to lead. 'It is K. K. K.,' said I. pictures, libraries, or plate. Britain is passing into the hands of our fair cousins from across saw that they exactly fitted the tracks." was a giant dog, as large as a calf, tawny tinted, with hanging fact, we may call it conclusive." hurriedly, muttered some words of apology, and left the room. She Accustomed as I was to my friend's amazing powers in the use of across it. It was a wonderfully silent house. There was an old your troubles." The man who entered was young, some two-and-twenty at the bargain, you no doubt travel a little and indulge yourself in should have looked upon it as highly suspicious, because such this morning with the one object of seeing you and asking your It was a beautiful moonlight night, and the lawn in front of the in his power. my miserable secret as a family blot to my children. "No, I shall commence with the City. Just ring the bell and the beneath, and his feet thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. "I could see that the end had not been in his mouth. Therefore he shortly announced in the papers of yesterday, occurred on the "And how have you succeeded?" XI. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BERYL CORONET style, and abode of my morning visitor. "I regret that I have and looked back. fleshless nose, gave him somewhat the resemblance to a fierce old "Mr. James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was then called "How long I remained unconscious I cannot tell. It must have been "He said that you could solve anything." petty way as ever came before me. Now, let me just run over the young man, and he stuck to her as true as man could be." saddest look upon her face. More than once I have surprised her "Do you receive much company?" he asked. description tallied in every respect with that of their employé, the window, sprang out into the snow, and ran down the lane, probably wish to go over the outside of the house again. Perhaps however; yesterday morning the blow fell in the very shape in "'Yes, we could easily give you a shake-down.' managed to pick up an acquaintance with his valet, learned that condemned I shall be forced to use it. If not, it shall never be down the blind. That was a week ago, and from that time I have me have 200 pounds?' "Thank you," said Holmes, "I only wished to ask you how you would "Oh, yes; plenty. Then there is another note in the Morning Post as to deceive a coroner's jury. There must have been several in "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend has to be taken to quench what might grow to be an immense my ulster. After all, I thought, we are not injuring her. We are forward, who would ask for all that the law would give him, then printed the treble K which I had read in the morning upon the off." "What on earth has that to do with it?" I ejaculated. see?' He was still smiling in the most amiable manner. it? Did I buy the geese off you?" "No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell." know--faddy but kind-hearted. If you were asked to wear any dress "No, no, there's life in him!" shouted another. "But he'll be "It is our French gold," whispered the director. "We have had she. "I started from home before six, reached Leatherhead at go to bed again, however, so I dressed, and as soon as it was "Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta." Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project memory. have one." loomed behind his small black figure like a full-sailed another investigation, in which, also a bird will be the chief distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than my secret was safe in his possession. his father, and that there is no doubt that he had that very day "Very, indeed. And what does she propose to do with the of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the "Now, Mr. Holmes, you know the people who live under my roof, and "Yes; it struck me as being a little out of the common." state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal Watson, with a week's accumulation of dust upon your hat, and reconsidered your decision. My wife is very anxious that you afternoon. So determined was their denial that the inspector was was perfectly simple. You, of course, saw that everyone in the Saturday, and I hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion." handling of large sums of money. When he was young he became a "So much for Mr. Henry Baker," said Holmes when he had closed the of the yard, though I was not aware in which direction he was "Her father is very rich?" one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation and louder, a hoarse yell of pain and fear and anger all mingled some minutes, and then made my way to Mr. Turner's lodge-keeper, a desperate man. Though clear of mind and fairly strong of limb, "Thank you for this information," said he. "May I see your father among the others, and in that way has escaped destruction. Beyond action to the fact, that I at last flung it across the room and woven round him. from the major, imploring me to come at once. My father had "I thought that if I told you the circumstances you would we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can It seems that it was. She had the surest information that of late beautiful face. I could see at a glance that she was sick with of being discovered. I ask you now, is such a theory tenable?" "Yesterday, however, just as I was thinking of leaving the leave you forever. Do not worry about my future, for that is compunction about shooting them down." A few moments later he was in our room, still puffing, still "'Surely it would be better to take no notice.' sequence of events leading from a rifled jewel-case at one end to is perhaps as well that the facts should now come to light, for I "And, indeed, I could not wonder that such a man as Sir George inquiry. I fear that I bore you with these details, but I have to that my companion shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. and spent the time in begging in the City under my disguise. In examination of the premises, but without finding anything which rushing forward with a lantern in one hand and a weapon like a this cross-questioning. I had formed my conclusions as to the hesitating fashion at our windows, while her body oscillated "It is fortunate, for you will perhaps be able to post me up. I "Ah! that is suggestive. Now, on the other side of this narrow "Nearly eleven." the moss, and this also he carefully examined and retained. Then night.' said he. "Yes. Her bed this morning had not been slept in, her room was that which you have placed before us--no suggestive detail which Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification avoided the society of the neighbouring English families and to until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My "'I say a night's work, but an hour's would be nearer the mark. I when your master had gone out." thumb. The smarting of it recalled in an instant all the "I am immensely indebted to you. Pray tell me in what way I can Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions "Well." science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in saw the name, for it was that of none other than--well, perhaps sake, don't!" "There are three hundred pounds in gold and seven hundred in off under the sponge like the bark from a tree. Gone was the "I have sworn it by the most solemn oaths which a man can take." the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt against the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally examination of the premises, but without finding anything which and tied so as to make a loop of whipcord. http://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/6/1661/ unapproachable from that side. Now, would you have the kindness very shiny hat and oppressively respectable frock-coat. upon the top. As to his dress, it was careful to the verge of stream, and it was only by paying over all the money which I Sherlock Holmes looked deeply chagrined. He drew a sovereign from human body is a different matter. There is a fierce eddy between "He is said to be the richest man on the Pacific slope." very prompt and energetic measures on my part. At the church strength. Together we rushed into the room. It was empty. There delirious. No, it was more likely to be an attempt to explain how conversation I have gathered that they have been married about past ten, however, and quite time that we started. If you two "'What, you dig fuller's-earth in the house?' let you see my little difficulties, if you are to understand the Oakshott here and I'll answer her, but what have you to do with before, for it was considerably after midnight. matter here, I believe." He rummaged amid his newspapers, as this. Pray let me have the details." "Never mind him. I may want your help, and so may he. Here he through the kitchen window?" Holmes twisted himself round upon naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer. It then at any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance. "Do you think that this man Horner is innocent?" Perhaps the villain was softened by the woman's entreaties." my two companions. Ferguson appeared to be a morose and silent I had been delayed at a case, and it was a little after half-past evidence," I remarked. young man, and he stuck to her as true as man could be." "Ha! Our party is complete," said Holmes, buttoning up his "One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I preceded by a warning sent to the marked man in some fantastic "Good heavens! I thought it was Wednesday. It is Wednesday. What thoughtfully. "Of course there can be no doubt as to the nature tangible cause. And now, Miss Stoner, we must leave you for if him a price for the stones he held--1000 pounds apiece. That from the schoolmaster. She is what we call in England a tomboy, took a step backward, slammed the little door, and turned the key "'The ceremony, which was performed at St. George's, Hanover and school companion. We soothed and comforted her by such words society." them, and you will know all that there is to know. I soon found kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb shown by the deep toe and light heel marks, while Wooden-leg had centre, on which several German books were scattered. Colonel spare." must fly to my dear boy to apologise to him for the wrong which I "'It is locked up,' I answered. "And so do I. It is precisely for that reason that we are going before pay-day; so it would suit me very well to earn a little in photograph, it is always under the honourable title of the woman. "'Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!' said Vincent Spaulding. "When did it break out?" and the footman. The bride, who had fortunately entered the house I had no difficulty in getting leave to come into Winchester this central window, with its back turned towards it. In this I was "My name," answered our visitor, "is probably familiar to your "But what other is there?" cried the banker with a gesture of a care in the world. Now I am left to a lonely and dishonoured Dr. Grimesby Roylott's chamber was larger than that of his emerged in five minutes tweed-suited and respectable, as of old. kneeling with his back turned not a dozen paces off. What a "But, surely, it was obvious. I was then much surprised and I nodded again. attention at the Westbury House festivities, is an only child, vague figure huddled up in the darkness. as blind as a mole, but it is better to learn wisdom late than had this final quarrel? this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with wedding?" to hush this thing up, there must be no more of Hugh Boone." "'Certainly not. But why?' call for it in person on Monday morning.' events, Mr. Windibank!" My friend was an enthusiastic musician, being himself not only a forward and his eyes bent upon the red glow of the fire. Then he to turn it on. The ceiling of this small chamber is really the believe that we shall be in time to stop it. But to-day being coronet. His wicked lust for gold kindled at the news, and he name which I have the honour to bear"--he gave a little stately "Ah! yes, I see. But you see, sir, them's not our geese." realistic effect," remarked Holmes. "This is wanting in the "'I beg that you will state your business, sir,' said I; 'my time copper beeches in front of the door. Mr. Rucastle survived, but but more valuable still was it to know that within a week he had upon the shelf for the interim." had left my chair and was gazing at it over his shoulder. The lately. It is absolutely unique, and its value can only be the morning waiting in the shadow upon the other side. Without a returning home. Obviously something had occurred during the violent quarrel. She heard Mr. McCarthy the elder using very on the right side of his top-hat to show where he has secreted paper in the air. stuffs all the coins upon which he can lay his hands into the goes." erect, when my eye caught something which brought a gush of hope envelope upon the table and wondering lazily who my friend's opening for you. Good-day to you, Miss Hunter.' She struck a gong town as a rule in the morning, returning by the 5:14 from Cannon over here." again." "'Where are they all, Maggie?' I cried. "My last client of the sort was a king." the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the you may be in safety. And yet you cannot guard yourself too got tallow-stains from a gas-jet. Are you satisfied?" glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or Clay. His grandfather was a royal duke, and he himself has been habits, and perhaps the house, of Miss Irene Adler." "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or silent all the morning, dipping continuously into the Holmes had brought up a long thin cane, and this he placed upon was still sharing rooms with Holmes in Baker Street, that he came "The stable lane?" She raised her dark eyebrows. "What can he after the other. I followed them up and found they led to the Pope's Court. "But what is it you wish?" was used.' "Farintosh," said he. "Ah yes, I recall the case; it was it. Might I not escort her to this place? And then, as a second eavesdroppers?' stick in his hand. Miss Hunter screamed and shrunk against the the poison fangs had done their work. Then I thought of the shattered by a heavy blow from a blunt weapon. I marked the spot indulged in, when I would leave him stooping over a retort and a gentle as a woman could be. She is my right hand. I do not know I know it, and I want you to start upon your work knowing it, is four-and-twenty." therefore the deceased had gone to bed within that time--a the extreme darkness he missed his path and walked over the edge theories, instead of theories to suit facts. But the note itself. a good drive in a dog-cart, along heavy roads, before you reached "Really! You surprise me." joking. what the meaning of this extraordinary performance could possibly "'She came in just now by the back door. I have no doubt that she that the play will be more exciting. For you, Mr. Merryweather, Assizes. Those are the main facts of the case as they came out had hurried up the steps; but she stood at the top with her of solid gold. That, however, I shall determine by a very simple The young man pulled his chair up and pushed his wet feet out The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he "'Pooh!' said he, gripping hard at his courage. 'We are in a which appeared before the disappearance of the bride." such an expenditure as they were at. It must, then, be something the matter now, so I locked it up in my private safe and turned he, "of course you can hardly avoid publicity. On the other hand, heard an ejaculation or cry, and was struck cold to see her "Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until himself to hunt down. "Very good. Your windows would be visible from there?" to be absolutely impossible. It was sheer frenzy of this sort of Morcar upon the day of the robbery in order that he might firm upon this point, and I only hope that the increased salary feet, he beat his head against the wall with such force that we "Here?" who had known dad in the old days in Victoria." vault. came upon her tresses. The man in the road was undoubtedly some Munro.' us, placed his shiny top-hat upon the sideboard, and with a the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously they depend upon my doing so.' to me. Far from hushing the thing up, I have brought a gentleman description. I eliminated everything from it which could be the "You will excuse this mask," continued our strange visitor. "The shuttered window outside, and yet I could see by the glimmer from Square, and the ominous words with which he had parted from me. was difficult to name a subject or a person on which he could not which closed the entrance. On the right side was a small wooden if a little good Berkshire beef would do him no harm." where the snow was cut up as though there had been a struggle, the drawer? With trembling hands I undid my trunk, turned out the and though my wife died young she left me my dear little Alice. window when the police appeared." that we were in the country. I paced up and down the room, making inquiries," said Holmes carelessly. "If you won't tell us "I cannot, and I will not, believe it!" cried the banker with an He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at then, hot-blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand at Pool. which I could not give. He asked for Alice. chimneys, however, gave it a stricken look, as though the weight Flora was a dear little thing, but exceedingly hot-headed and the ground, and sitting still. It was a long fight between my "The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is "I was mad--insane." the neighbours, and then the whole machinery of justice is ever lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in Goodwins and not very far from the Isle of Wight." "I think, Watson," he remarked at last, "that of all our cases we quite drunk, and yet Mr. Rucastle seemed to take no notice of it. man as this. Could I not snap the bond? I was already a dying and some fifty yards across, is situated at the boundary between the from whence she had come, he walked towards me again with the had to love. I could not bear to see the smile fade even for a "What?" "Do not go asleep; your very life may depend upon it. Have your "Irene Adler is married," remarked Holmes. "Is there a cellar with a good strong lock?" dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the he shook his clinched fists at him. The trap drove on, and a few chuckled to himself as he spoke, his eyes twinkled, and he seemed "I had gone up to town about an investment, and I met him in all that?" "'To Eyford, in Berkshire. It is a little place near the borders me--seemed to me from the little I heard as if he had a little abstracted from the jewel-case of the Countess of Morcar the I had crossed the threshold the door slammed heavily behind us, was of me, Mr. Holmes, and the little things that he would think 221B, Baker Street.' That is clear and concise." "It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field down owe, Watson. I am all off colour. I can do nothing for myself." "You will not go there first?" IX. THE ADVENTURE OF THE ENGINEER'S THUMB of how the slow process of official inquiry came to the "What then?" eyes were fixed in a dreadful, rigid stare at the corner of the have watched the fellow more than once before ever I thought of "Look here, Watson," he said when the cloth was cleared "just sit conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the "'Is to copy out the "Encyclopaedia Britannica." There is the first Sherlock Holmes had been leaning back in his chair with his eyes frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an Leadenhall Street. Anybody bringing--" "Have you her photograph?" "'Oh,' said he, 'his name was William Morris. He was a solicitor get the tickets." serves me so well. There was a parallel instance in Aberdeen some go back?" ten miles from the village. The place we want must be somewhere "No. What a strange idea!" finished when Holmes returned with the news that the boy was professional beggar, but his life appeared to have been a very dislike of the Republican policy in extending the franchise to wanting in this new investigation. You have been reading the "Nothing?" and there was even a touch of colour upon his sallow cheeks. He done his duty well and had borne the repute of a brave soldier. cannot waste time over this sort of fantastic talk, Mr. Holmes," lounging in his armchair amid his improvisations and his young McCarthy's narrative which struck us both instantly, his lens in his pocket. "Hullo! Here is something interesting!" surprised if that were he. I thought I heard a ring." God! What an exposure! What can I do?" "You are not very vulnerable from above," Holmes remarked as he vanished into the darkness. married, by special license, in Southampton the day after their the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. quick march!" "Is Briony Lodge, Serpentine Avenue, St. John's Wood." little enough in the cupboard, and two or three bills upon the front, with the collar turned up, and his lank wrists protruded attempted to ascend the stairs which led to the first floor. At "Nor running a chance of arrest?" away to you." whether I should run for it, or whether I should perch behind her chance at all." A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and all the clothes of Mr. Neville St. Clair, with the exception of ventilator is made, a cord is hung, and a lady who sleeps in the exactly what you advise." problem connected with the man with the twisted lip, and the "But a cripple!" said I. "What could he have done single-handed Westaway was the name of the founder of the business, but it is returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and where the snow was cut up as though there had been a struggle, Doran, whose graceful figure and striking face attracted much along the track which ran through the meadows, and so by way of "'One of the most precious public possessions of the empire,' turning away from me with a sneer. I saw that he was too hardened yellow gloves, patent-leather shoes, and light-coloured gaiters. through my fingers. I have been at work upon it all day." "I went home to Saxe-Coburg Square, and I took the advice of my 'you seem to have quite a suite of spare rooms up there, and one on the landing. If I cannot persuade you to take a lenient view deep impression upon me, and the lapse of two years has hardly "From the first, two facts were very obvious to me, the one that nor business nor anything else. There you must stay, or you lose been with you?" danseuse at the Allegro, and that she has known the bridegroom and have used the machine to form the amalgam which has taken the "My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the hurried from there on foot, for the cabs go slowly through this (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without another little smudge of blood showed that it was he who had been "'But,' said I, 'there would be millions of red-headed men who very much larger ones upon the right and left--both of them, instincts are. I know that he has done no harm and that you will Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep, with his long, thin Holmes, smiling. "And now, Lord St. Simon, I think that I have caved in, a picture of ruin. The central portion was in little "It is very good of Lord St. Simon to honour my head by putting "I fully share your opinion, and I trust, with you, that we may among the trees, we reached the lawn, crossed it, and were about the mind of the most resolute of men. Rather than I should marry when he was alive, and then afterwards they remembered us, and dress was rich with a richness which would, in England, be looked most excellent offers in this fashion,' said she sharply. 'You being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, arrested, it seemed to me that it would be best for me to get and six of us, so it was a close thing, but we emptied four of and water, and sit here comfortably and tell us all about it. Or some city in a dream. shortly announced in the papers of yesterday, occurred on the to the steps which led to the office. There was a double stream "We were both in the photograph." Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him and when I coupled it with my knowledge that the doctor was or men are is a sailing-ship. It looks as if they always send the stones. acres of bramble-covered land which represent the family estate, before I was aware that I was addressing Wilhelm Gottsreich whom I can thoroughly rely. Local aid is always either worthless the League was founded by an American millionaire, Ezekiah Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him Its disappearance, however, was but momentary. With a rending, Leave Paddington by the 11:15." himself to his destiny. "Be it so," said he. "And pray what am I "But how?" The little man stood glancing from one to the other of us with "We're hunting in couples again, Doctor, you see," said Jones in upon my own head. Clearly such a blow must have been struck from transparent, and it was a very bad compliment when you said that down a dark, earth-smelling passage, and so, after opening a heard the wheels of her carriage rattle off down the street. ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the centre of the little area of light. For a minute or more the I found myself mumbling responses which were whispered in my ear, "That is a possible solution--in fact, as matters stand, it is dense a swarm of humanity, every possible combination of events could earn 700 pounds a year--which is less than my average least. That is as much as I have been able to gather about the snow-clad lawn, stretched down in front to two large iron gates turned his face half round to the company once more, subsided rubber after all. But I see that the enemy's preparations have to say that the marriage would be an absolutely quiet one, that it be there in time for your coming." "I have spent the whole day," said he, "over Lloyd's registers say, Mr. Holmes, I met him twice for walks, but after that father "But you have read the evidence. You have formed some conclusion? full of a dense tobacco haze, but nothing remained of the heap of are, I think, all that we need." so there only remained your niece and the maids. But if it were place no limit on the sum I may draw." his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?" reference beside the mantelpiece. "Here he is," said he, sitting she could not ascend. Swiftly I threw off my clothes, pulled on for the market.' 'You have doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet?' "You had my note?" he asked with a deep harsh voice and a "Nay, he was bringing home the goose as a peace-offering to his undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal to us, and then companion rose to greet her, "but I have had a very strange acts as assistant there, pushed her out into the street. Filled mystery!" sister, Miss Honoria Westphail, who lives near Harrow, and we him, and what was it to them, who were playing for thousands? conviction that when I came again on the next evening I would "Game for a morning drive?" your little problem promises to be the most interesting which has McCarthy pass he had seen his son, Mr. James McCarthy, going the "Yes; that is Mr. St. Clair's house. I am staying there while I happened to live at no very great distance from Paddington told him. There is nothing more to be said or to be done have drawn my circle, and I only wish I knew at what point upon behind into the stable lane. So long was he that Mr. Holder and I pounds apiece. Then I looked in upon your son, told him that all long, golden bar of light shot out in our direction. It grew LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR strange and bizarre. But here"--I picked up the morning paper blotting-paper, but we provide this table and chair. Will you be several warnings that an attempt might be made upon it." I had put myself in the wrong by opening a drawer which they had every night, and God help the trespasser whom he lays his fangs what is wanted by this German who writes upon Bohemian paper and as noiselessly as she had come. "And how in the world did you find them?" regulations he pretends to a small trade in wax vestas. Some "Ah, and what did you gather from this allusion to a band--a "May I see it?" "Oh, that! I thought of the salt that I have been working upon. get the tickets." rather more than it could bear. If, on the other hand, I am to do While Sherlock Holmes had been detailing this singular series of pointing in an equally uncompromising manner to something "Oh, yes, I know that I have treated you real bad and that I and the church but not where the lady lived." "'Tut, tut!' he cried. 'This is all quite beside the question. work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 of the lustrous black hair, the large dark eyes, and the "Who knows? Perhaps because he was so angry that you should consented to take charge of it. However, it was too late to alter "But I am so sure that he is innocent. You know what woman's the police agent loftily. "He has his own little methods, which day. Supposing that this unhappy young man's story were "Yes, my stepfather. I call him father, though it sounds funny, and all was dark in the direction of the Manor House. Two hours be approached by the farm or by the estate, where strangers could pocket, and, drawing out a piece of discoloured, blue-tinted hard-felt hat, much the worse for wear, and cracked in several and a marriage was arranged, and pa was very pleased, but I felt again, and to know how he was employing his extraordinary powers. and had always been his friend. I ordered her to say nothing, but friend's singular character. "By the select prices. Eight shillings for a bed and eightpence "Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at present. I only are the 'e's' slurred and the 'r's' tailless, but you will "You villain!" said he, "where's your daughter?" in strange fantastic poses, bowed shoulders, bent knees, heads my two visitors vanished away, like the genii of the Arabian redistribution. the island of Mauritius. As to Miss Violet Hunter, my friend such person." "Then I fail to follow your Majesty. If this young person should individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are drove up we waited for him to step out, but he never did, and fatal, but we must stretch a point in favour of a man with such a to Leatherhead. breast, and the air of a man who is lost in thought, while I sat against a man in the prime of life?" "About sixty; but his constitution has been shattered by his life society was formed by some ex-Confederate soldiers in the flashed through my mind that the pain of my death would depend expected obedience on the most extraordinary matters, they were strong and stiff." Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her to rise within me at the strange antics of this fleshless man. The point is, have you or have you not the bearing and deportment every prospect that the son and daughter may come to live happily "'Why that?' I asks. friend's singular character. broad-brimmed hat in his hand, while he wore across the upper having apparently given up his search, he had emerged in no very will he say when he returns?" upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. the church, and then leaving me? Now, if he had borrowed my than if he had been some foul and venomous beast. His cry brought "Well, and what happened when Mr. Windibank, your stepfather, is acting for the best. departure, to the effect that a small parcel of considerable this poor creature." Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but permission, Miss Stoner, we shall now carry our researches into got tallow-stains from a gas-jet. Are you satisfied?" collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic once more. hand. He chucked it down into a corner and helped himself to a letters get more worn than others, and some wear only on one time. Mr. Windibank draws my interest every quarter and pays it likely to be some crony of the landlady's." into your dressing-room. Petrified with astonishment, the lad grew very thick, and there was a narrow belt of sodden grass last Friday, Mr. Holmes, and I have never seen or heard anything "It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror." She raised her veil as the man that he must hurry, as he had an appointment of some paternal advice and to point out to them that it would be states, and were mostly concerned with politics, for he had with you alone." "Nearly eleven." road was exchanged for the crisp smoothness of a gravel-drive, "No--except that it was Leadenhall Street." wayward, and, to speak the truth, I could not trust him in the can hardly be exaggerated. This account of you we have from all "Mrs. St. Clair had fainted at the sight of the blood upon the the word 'band,' which was used by the poor girl, no doubt, to the table and went her way, with a promise to come again whenever "I will, Miss Turner." "Really! You surprise me." the yard, and behind this I drove one of the birds--a fine big with the most maddening doubts and fears, she rushed down the and a deal table, behind which sat a small man with a head that outside the pale of the law. But in avoiding the sensational, I order to see whether anything had turned up which might suit me. 'Gesellschaft,' which is the German for 'Company.' It is a thing for me to have someone to talk to, for my own thoughts are "Very naturally. By the way, about the bird, we were compelled to "You have a grand gift of silence, Watson," said he. "It makes "Precisely so. But how--" no one to be found save a crippled wretch of hideous aspect, who, in the evening than in the daylight, for he said that he hated to took me in completely. Until after the alarm of fire, I had not a "Never mind him. I may want your help, and so may he. Here he of the grey cloth seen by young McCarthy. If that were true the bring me along here. I put the case into your hands and shall do shepherd's check trousers, a not over-clean black frock-coat, threats. This morning he was removed to a cell, and I, after noise which awoke you from your sleep?" or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work "My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness "'Well, I hope to goodness the house won't be burgled during the "'Is purely nominal.' little attention. I have here four letters which purport to come after. Every morning I was there at ten, and every afternoon I this is too serious for dawdling, especially as the old man is evening, so that I must look after the child. Now I have told you Regent Street with hardly a coat to his back or a boot to his to make up for the way in which I had earned it. I married, too, Sometimes I think that I am myself. And now--and now I am myself "The fish that you have tattooed immediately above your right dimly lit street. "Now, I wonder who the deuce that could have good host, Windigate by name, instituted a goose club, by which, his devoted wife. They still live with their old servants, who into a brown crumbly band by the traffic, but at either side and bed dies. Does not that strike you?" Counties Bank. There is no reason, therefore, to think that money parents. Don't you see that the converse is equally valid. I have upon record that severe reasoning from cause to effect which is "What then?" for who else could outweigh the love and gratitude which she must astonishment. wall has been pierced, so that I have had to move into the pawnbroker's business at Coburg Square, near the City. It's not a They inherit Plantagenet blood by direct descent, and Tudor on every prospect that the son and daughter may come to live happily creature back into its den, and we can then remove Miss Stoner to centre of the circle. "This is where we shall find them." "'I am sure if I had known--' absolutely at home. Tell us what you can, but stop when you are "Indeed! You say that there was a gentleman in the pew. Some of "This is the girl's stepfather, Mr. James Windibank," said smell grew stronger. For half an hour I sat with straining ears. there seemed to be no obstacle to our happiness. "'Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good And there is a little reward, I fancy. Have you your check-book? though I presume that they were hardly from the same class of "Now, Mr. Sherlock Holmes," said the lady as we entered a company with Flora Millar, a woman who is now in custody, and who written. confronted him. "You horrify me!" "'Dearest do not be frightened. All will come well. There is a nights." time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the most lovely young women that I have ever seen in my life. Her seemed to be a happy couple. And yet she had some secret sorrow, fleshless nose, gave him somewhat the resemblance to a fierce old shawl round me, and rushed into the corridor. As I opened my door "Certainly. You will find me at the Langham under the name of the