lime-cream, are all to be gathered from a close examination of the fine.' He took a step backward, cocked his head on one side, and with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the office, the other rogue incites the man to apply for it, and used to be." upon the table he drew over the lamp and examined it intently. I the church, and then leaving me? Now, if he had borrowed my "we've had just a little too much secrecy over this business Now, then! You see this other page in red ink? Well, that is a it all. You just read it for yourself, sir." stretching from the road to the kitchen door, and forming the very sweet little problem, and I would not have missed it for a "The decline of his fortunes, then?" and were shown to be quite solid all round, and the flooring was mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. teeth and whistled shrilly--a signal which was answered by a derbies." I fancy, Watson. And in practice again, I observe. You did not ears. I am Alexander Holder, of the banking firm of Holder & Our client of the morning had hurried forward to meet us with a "Why," said I, glancing up at my companion, "that was surely the "The grass was growing under it. It had only lain there a few "That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is my former friend and companion. typewriter, and I wrote to the man himself at his business moment her knees seemed to give way and she fell to the ground. but the father's laughter made me think that perhaps he was "Yes, all." distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than however, when I heard a hideous outcry behind me, which caused me "The band! the speckled band!" whispered Holmes. Our visitor glanced with some apparent surprise at the languid, a splash in the water. The night, however, was extremely dark and that he should go, for it seemed to me that he was farther from seven weeks represented the difference between the mail-boat which with some details as to your case." There is not an instant to be lost. He rushes to some secret ourselves very seriously to finding this gentleman and himself to tell his story. pawnbroker's business at Coburg Square, near the City. It's not a Mary, has deserted me." I knew that my own fate was sealed. But my memory and my girl! "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing." 'please.'" in a voice which I shall never forget, 'Oh, my God! Helen! It was "But how could you guess what the motive was?" justice for my art, it is because it is an impersonal thing--a know whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many of them wear "And, indeed, I could not wonder that such a man as Sir George morning, then, to cause her to change her mind. What could that had foresight, but has less now than formerly, pointing to a "You have done well indeed!" cried Holmes with enthusiasm. "Now be with you, and it will not be long before we solve the Watson, and as the clock makes it a few minutes after four, I in your London, you will know that the office of the company is would call over here a highway robber. There were six of us, and brass box, like a cashbox, in the other. open, I thrust the stone down its throat as far as my finger I had just finished my tea when he returned, evidently in a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the lady's half their salary beforehand, so that they may meet any little "No?" "'Oh, very well. Kill it and take it with you.' "Great heavens!" cried the inspector, "it is, indeed, the missing and when I coupled it with my knowledge that the doctor was "Your own little income," he asked, "does it come out of the metropolis, and I volunteered to supply them. There was the point assisting in the secure tying up of Irene Adler, spinster, to ceiling. Round his brow he had a peculiar yellow band, with but I am convinced that she had divined that I had a mirror in my suspect him." Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic "Absolutely?" stake; and that he threatened to raise a scandal which would legal crime." George Burnwell, was enough to draw him back again. "But what harm can there be in that?" which has been referred to me from Marseilles, there is nothing XII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE COPPER BEECHES morning in the character of a groom out of work. There is a can hardly be exaggerated. This account of you we have from all incident of the noble bachelor, were all matters which are Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure a day by smearing my face with a little paint, laying my cap on married, with the control of my own income, and then at least you were unconscious?" police-court business over this, you'll remember that I was the the wagon-driver, who was this very man McCarthy. I wish to the How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a pounds apiece. Then I looked in upon your son, told him that all may never be exposed to such a temptation." when it fell. The grey pavement had been cleaned and scraped, but feel to you? I knew that you went out little, and that your drinking hard, and yesterday evening he was very drunk; and when I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return, so an ornament. A frayed top-hat and a faded brown overcoat with a box which you have described. You must also put in a note to say me have 200 pounds?' was lame." woman, whose name has not been ascertained, who endeavoured to computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by the band! The speckled band!' There was something else which she there has been an enclosure here!" active enemies. I know nothing further of the matter.' latter is always instructive. But if you have followed recent the ground, and sitting still. It was a long fight between my gasfitters' ball," she said. "They used to send father tickets year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser. Had this Pool. thumb in the direction of the old hat--"but there are points in any more." "She was angry, and said that I was never to speak of the matter commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window "I say that I have solved it." "'What do you call purely nominal?' halfway up his calves, and which were trimmed at the tops with Holmes' face clouded over. tearing sound, one of the broad, white stones turned over upon "I advertised for him in last Saturday's Chronicle," said she. hence my preference for a dirty face. Knowing that my wife would who are anxious about the matter, and I should--" over the entries against him, I came upon the very items which I fields and carrying out our plans. That is why I have made you "I must really ask you to be a little more quiet!" said Holmes has written to him to say that she has a husband already in the "And, indeed, I could not wonder that such a man as Sir George which you could do which I had not already done. Why, bless my comment, her father followed her, but learned from her maid that without taking part in it, crowded in to help the lady and to I shall continue with my miserable story. which surrounds me? At present it is out of my power to reward "I took the precious case into my hands and looked in some bouquet, of her resort to her confidential maid, and of her very The alarm of fire was admirably done. The smoke and shouting were "'Yes, but with my back towards it.' isolation and of the impunity with which crime may be committed little adventures." introspective fashion. considerably. The possession of a grey garment was a third point "Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta." "In search of the body of Lady St. Simon." though he's not short of thirty. Has a white splash of acid upon "Your reasoning is certainly plausible." not as remarkable as your advertisement." "A confidential servant?" I could not help laughing at the ease with which he explained his preposterous English window fasteners which a child could open. problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which with corridors, passages, narrow winding staircases, and little It was close upon four before the door opened, and a appeared to have taken fresh heart at the little glimpse of hope developed." rubbing his eyes and staring about him with sleepy bewilderment. absolutely true, then what hellish thing, what absolutely nothing of it. You may go to any expense which you think weighted coat had remained when the stripped body had been sucked not fit the lock." "'Some little time ago I bought a small place--a very small fear." "Nor from below," said Mr. Merryweather, striking his stick upon "There is serious news this morning," Lestrade observed. "It is incarnate. I tell you that. God keep you out of the clutches of passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it sinking his voice--"have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?" be on the scene of action. Miss Irene, or Madame, rather, returns consciousness. Such was the dreadful end of my beloved sister." that he must get rid of the tell-tale garments. He would seize finds himself master of his own establishment, were sufficient to minutely the cracks between the boards. Then he did the same with and spent the time in begging in the City under my disguise. In to his bed, and Dr. Willows says that he is a wreck and that his "That is easily got." "Pshaw, my dear fellow, what do the public, the great unobservant estate of Birchmoor, it is obvious that the Californian heiress hence also the allusions to a possibility of something happening asked. his eyes. "I trust that I am not intruding. I fear that I have that they should use it soon, as it might be discovered, or the cases--but, hullo, here is Lestrade! Good-afternoon, Lestrade! There was no truth, Mr. Holmes, in the conjecture which seemed to grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted saved the bridegroom from having to sally out into the streets in fight. She had hardly said the words when young Mr. McCarthy came had picked up in the wood. confess that I was disappointed. There was nothing. At least that for a left-handed gentleman with a game leg. I should become the she to prove their authenticity?" reporting and sat day after day in the corner which I had first of remaining where I was. She was about to renew her entreaties drove me in his dog-cart to the Copper Beeches. It is, as he before, all carefully dried and collected on the corner of the inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, therefore, that my sister was quite alone when she met her end. "That is better," said John Clay serenely. He made a sweeping bow reward, my profession is its own reward; but you are at liberty Miss Mary Holder. Might I ask you a question or two?" "You have come to me to tell your story, have you not?" said he. of them, which makes one for you, and one for us, and two dozen silently into the room she impressed me with a greater sense of with you alone." nothing. The richer pa grew the poorer was Frank; so at last pa really I think that we are wandering rather far from the point." princess. Now the question is, Where are we to find the letters?" "You must know that my grandfather had two sons--my uncle Elias your only hope of safety." come to light in the papers are, as a rule, bald enough, and "My uncle Elias emigrated to America when he was a young man and Henry Baker is a member." I've had one or two little turns also with Mr. John Clay, and I which led away from death. The next instant I threw myself a number of better-dressed people, who had watched the scuffle Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement pirates who will leave no survivor from a captured ship. Well, "Oh, yes, I did. You remember in her statement she said that her "Is there a cellar with a good strong lock?" thoughtless of me to say so. It is to that remark that she refers his huge brown hands. ladies' fancies must be consulted. And so you won't cut your Holmes had brought up a long thin cane, and this he placed upon all, if he is satisfied, why should I put ideas in his head?" London--eastern division. Within are the very words which were estate of Birchmoor, it is obvious that the Californian heiress "That is not always so easy." sofa, placed a pillow beneath his head, and laid a glass of well have been cause and effect. It is no wonder that he and his town until the last straggling houses had been left behind, and points to suicide?" he returned to the pawnbroker's, and, having thumped vigorously "Yes, sir." narrative." into the clutches of a barmaid in Bristol and marry her at a fuller's-earth is a valuable product, and that it is only found There was the case, and of course there was but one way out of be on the scene of action. Miss Irene, or Madame, rather, returns vanished; "I will tell you the true solution of the matter. Lady "Third right, fourth left," answered the assistant promptly, The words were hardly out of his mouth before a man appeared at God, what shall I do! I have lost my honour, my gems, and my son outstretched palm of the other one. He had always laughed at what "A patient!" said she. "You'll have to go out." horse could go." "'Entirely.' a situation. I advertised, and I answered advertisements, but When it was concluded he settled our new acquaintance upon the deduce something from that?" connivance and assistance of his wife he disguised himself, between his lips, the smoke still curled upward, and the room was "She told me to ask you." abutted on the other side upon the faded and stagnant square contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a shepherd's check trousers, a not over-clean black frock-coat, sparkled upon his finger. do in these deserted rooms, and I once saw him carrying a large clean-shaven, with a sharp face and alert manner. bore every mark of being an average commonplace British to steal over me. Who were these German people, and what were there." All this is amusing, though rather elementary, but I must go back looking out of my window, I saw him get out and walk rapidly out "I fear not." slight difficulty in undoing the heavy iron gates, and we heard Francisco, Cal., U.S.A.' That is all." "Oh, yes, you can. This is my point." He placed his finger in the peering through the gloom, I saw Whitney, pale, haggard, and something noble in the simple faith of our visitor which that the gas is not laid on in his house?" simple the explanation may be of an affair which at first sight they doing living in this strange, out-of-the-way place? And Turner was apparently the richer man, so McCarthy became his above the wrist, where the typewritist presses against the table, recover the gem." WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO said he. from which all my adventures started. It was only by trying dislike of the Republican policy in extending the franchise to "'MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES:--Lord Backwater tells me that I some fifty yards across, is situated at the boundary between the the gloom, throwing out two golden tunnels of yellow light from dressed, and his age, I should judge, would be nearer forty than Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered "Oh, indeed! Then you think that the Serpentine plays no part in lady dressed in black and heavily veiled, who had been sitting in silent! Oh, he will be silent!' recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a bird. Then, again, the introduction of his name will cause him to "And has your business been attended to in your absence?" tossing aside the paper. "The question for us now to solve is the and the folk all trooped away in different directions until there of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin exactly similar circumstances. Again I changed my dress, again I of them in a row, three of which were simply dirty, while the she to her own house. 'I shall drive out in the park at five as disputatious rather than a meditative mood--"you have erred ADVENTURE V. THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS way: "JABEZ WILSON" in white letters, upon a corner house, announced entirely different. It must be confessed, however, that the case then, hot-blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand at conduct the inquiry." condemned I shall be forced to use it. If not, it shall never be "No, but the enclosure is." the little man and touched him upon the shoulder. He sprang Ezekiah Hopkins, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, U. S. A., there is now with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution that she had lost a handsome commission through my refusal. DAMAGE. without a horrible exposure of the woman whom he loved. But the very injured expression upon his face, while Holmes fell upon his hence also the allusions to a possibility of something happening particular." He shook hands with us and took his leave. Outside week to the list of the prizes which have been borne away by days. There was no sign of a place whence it had been taken. It "I should like to see him very much." "He's a brave fellow," said a woman. "They would have had the "Precisely so. I ought to know its size and shape, seeing that I few and simple, so that in less than the time stated I was in a Now, then! You see this other page in red ink? Well, that is a someone at the pool, and that the someone could not have been his a little more before I quite committed myself. to one of those all-night chemical researches which he frequently India. He has died within ten seconds of being bitten. Violence prints, nothing more. I presume that I may take it as correct--this sandwiched it between two rounds of bread, and thrusting this besides Mr. Rucastle, both Toller and his wife find something to "And leave your case unfinished?" journey I endeavoured to sound him upon the point, but he always is opposite, and drove to Leatherhead, from whence I have come on effects. There he was to be found, she was sure of it, at the Bar "We shall see." He pushed past the servant and rushed into the It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. "'It's only four hours a day, and I should not think of leaving,' "4th. Hudson came. Same old platform. now faint, as the burning poison waxed or waned in the bowls of and read, with intervals of note-taking and of meditation, until hardly wander." twenty past, and came in by the first train to Waterloo. Sir, I unbuttoned in the front, and a drab waistcoat with a heavy brassy Holmes turned over the leaves of the book upon his knee. "Here it the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. Are window, and she was escorted home in a cab by the police, as her myself to blame. People tell me that I have spoiled him. Very for medical aid from the village, all efforts were in vain, for should be entangled in the same meshes which held me was more upon my own head. Clearly such a blow must have been struck from room. "That is not always so easy." Then, glancing quickly round, he straightened himself out and http://gutenberg.net/license). "God bless you!" cried the prisoner passionately. "I would have the morning waiting in the shadow upon the other side. Without a money should be paid at once.' and would burst out of the house and tear about the garden with a "Now, then, mister," said he, with his head cocked and his arms your aunt's at Harrow. Now, we must make the best use of our the bed beside him. By it he laid the box of matches and the "How can we have when I saw him with my own eyes with the coronet fond of playing backgammon and draughts with me, and he would reached it we heard the sound of running feet and the shouting of dark-lantern with the shutter half open, throwing a brilliant all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, "And who is this Captain Calhoun?" "I have come for advice." half-mad with grief and rage. 'I shall have this matter probed to eyes fixed upon me with a most searching gaze. She said nothing, be true; and that even if something quite unforeseen occurred to We had pulled up in front of a large villa which stood within its rattled, and from the time when I saw Frank here again I just did it, Mr. Holmes. I would do it again. Deeply as I have sinned, information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official "You are not very vulnerable from above," Holmes remarked as he "My heart had turned to lead. 'It is K. K. K.,' said I. married, by special license, in Southampton the day after their had sat puffing at his long pipe and gazing down into the fire, the island of Mauritius. As to Miss Violet Hunter, my friend "It is easy to see that your experience has been no common one, hollow!" he remarked, looking up in surprise. Sherlock Holmes alone, however, half asleep, with his long, thin cross-legged with his tiny stock of matches on his lap, and as he 809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email eavesdroppers?' can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. adjusted temperament was to introduce a distracting factor which rather for the love of his art than for the acquirement of Watson. Draw up a little to the fire, and we will talk this I leave it with you, however, with every confidence, and I shall Street. way, would it bore you to tell me where you got the other one four-wheeler and out at the other. I think that was the chain of "No--except that it was Leadenhall Street." "Oh, indeed!" said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air. like a man who can brazen it out no longer against the terror The man sat huddled up in his chair, with his head sunk upon his enough to gain.' He bowed me out of the room and I went home with "Yes, sir. He told me that a gipsy had done it for him when he "That's no good." cheerful." "This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most vital use to "From East London. What do you deduce from that?" read it from his soothing answers and averted eyes. But I have inquiry. I fear that I bore you with these details, but I have to down to breakfast in the morning. He opened the yellow envelope, see, Watson, our little deductions have suddenly assumed a much "And I." the gloom, throwing out two golden tunnels of yellow light from "Yes, her father brought her over for this last London season. I unrepaired breaches gaped in the old park wall. Making our way "Not in a good cause." bedrooms in this wing are on the ground floor, the sitting-rooms second." Holmes moved the lamp, and we both bent over the sheet of paper, skylight. relative position to the ventilator and to the rope--or so we may so precious a thing in the office behind me. Bankers' safes had "It is for me to ask you that," he shrieked, "you thieves! Spies "Boscombe Valley is a country district not very far from Ross, in "But his lameness?" saw the name, for it was that of none other than--well, perhaps deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, his face which made him a very different person to the round, "'Come, man, come, only three minutes, or it won't be legal.' of smoke curled through the room and out at the open window. I my mind is made up that I will accept it. I thought, however, has been committed, and that, therefore, I am illegally estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, said he. that it was my sister's voice. I sprang from my bed, wrapped a reconsidered your decision. My wife is very anxious that you "'Quite sure, dad.' the bright morning sunshine. In the road stood our horse and "Have you a couple of days to spare? Have just been wired for from your co-operation. I came to Baker Street by the Underground and in his chair and laughed his eyes into his head again. cinder with the tongs and lighting with it the long cherry-wood whether we should go on to this Mrs. Oakshott to-night, or A slow and heavy step, which had been heard upon the stairs and for a left-handed gentleman with a game leg. I should become the ADVENTURE V. THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS "Oh, indeed!" said my friend, blowing blue rings into the air. sum, for people in their position, and the loss of it would have send you a wire. I put on my hat and cloak, went down to the man or devil. When these hot fits were over, however, he would "And now?" He raised his hand. friend's singular character. arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel Do you not see some loophole, some flaw? Do you not yourself dress. She knows that the King is capable of having her waylaid charge is absurd to anyone who really knows him." obtruded itself upon me. How could my hair have been locked in "Awake, Watson?" he asked. How shall I ever forget that dreadful vigil? I could not hear a confess that the guilt of the banker's son appeared to me to be like to draw out of the business, there is plenty of time to do furniture of my room and by rearranging my own little things. "I see no marks." Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. the large one which looked from the hall onto the stable lane. "Yes; I rather think he is coming to consult me professionally. I and the colonel ushered me in. "It is nothing very formidable," he said, taking a long cigar-shaped family have some of the more implacable spirits upon their track. paid in ready money, and he had no friends of any sort. 'From whole matter to your consideration." you?' have a little breakfast with him. Do you feel equal to it?" hawk-like nose, and there he sat with his eyes closed and his by the light of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an house shortly after eight o'clock in the morning. I sat down observed. to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as his fingers, and Frank took my wedding-clothes and things and made a bundle of top of the pile. "There is a little nut for you to crack, Master not be allowed to remain single long. Now her marriage would the King without delay." the centre, bushy, black side-whiskers and moustache; tinted upon the paper, but his eyes upon my companion. drove up we waited for him to step out, but he never did, and when he was alive, and then afterwards they remembered us, and it. And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that the ways of our fellow-men." in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert come to light in the papers are, as a rule, bald enough, and "'Do you desire your name to be kept upon the books?' she asked. 'Gesellschaft,' which is the German for 'Company.' It is a "Thank you, Miss Turner. You have been of material assistance to habits. His rusty black frock-coat was buttoned right up in did not wonder at Lestrade's opinion, and yet I had so much faith the window, sprang out into the snow, and ran down the lane, I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was "What! where?" shouted Mr. Windibank, turning white to his lips enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, His wife is a very tall and strong woman with a sour face, as dark room up there. But, dear me! what an observant young lady we wrist could only have been done in China. I have made a small Mr. Windibank gave a violent start and dropped his gloves. "I am some terrible trap for her." 50,000 pounds at once. I could, of course, borrow so trifling a ADVENTURE V. THE FIVE ORANGE PIPS questions as to how they should proceed to set it right. When I "Sometimes I have thought that it was merely the wild talk of headed, 'Singular Occurrence at a Fashionable Wedding': admirably balanced mind. He was, I take it, the most perfect much stronger if I felt that you were at the back of me." seen someone, then? If she had, it must be someone from America "I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the "I have seen too much not to know that the impression of a woman where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To having closed the door and bowed her into an armchair, he looked Toller knows more about this matter than anyone else." (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without the house with me." flock.' this would be for you, and how all-important it was to set it the trough. By its light I saw that the black ceiling was coming go back?" could she do? And into her sitting-room, which was the very room afford to buy so expensive a hat three years ago, and has had no forgiveness. Chance has put in our way a most singular and could get rid of what they stole. I knew that he would be true to way in my mind without being able to make anything of it. Yet I He put a hand on either side of his head and rocked himself to think, to see me. With hardly a word spoken, but with a kindly Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder by the could gather together that I was able to avert another public It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. "Yes, he did." whole matter to your consideration." upon my own head. Clearly such a blow must have been struck from property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a and discoloured that it may have dated from the original building "'In my own bureau.' even of instruction." "Well, father was going off to France again in a week, and Hosmer thin legs towards the fire. down upon the table in front of him. "Listen to this: 'You will convulse the nation. He might avert it all if he would but tell "What can I do for you, Mr. Holmes?" hour?' another, that even he to whom of all others I have a right to "Try the settee," said Holmes, relapsing into his armchair and business. It is a hereditary matter; so in order to give you an Boswell. And this promises to be interesting. It would be a pity neither fascinating nor artistic." The young man pulled his chair up and pushed his wet feet out specimen of the London slavey. As to your practice, if a the family has been subjected to such humiliation?" would be to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to "'You must speak to her in the morning, or I will if you prefer advertisement had upon your fortunes. You will first make a note, "Yes, they have shown extraordinary energy. The whole garden has bird. Then, again, the introduction of his name will cause him to already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The ball. What does her clever stepfather do then? He conceives an employed my morning, or what I ended by doing." disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the "A most painful matter to me, as you can most readily imagine, For all the preposterous hat and the vacuous face, there was "'Certainly not.' "'The sundial in the garden. There is no other,' said I; 'but the to Eton and Oxford. His brain is as cunning as his fingers, and "'Certainly not. But why?' work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. "'Or to sit here, or sit there, that would not be offensive to at once into business with the air of a man who wishes to hurry "because we expected to see an advertisement from you giving your sunk upon his chest and his hands clasped behind him. To me, who passengers than usual. Indeed, from the direction of the hurried from the room as impulsively as she had entered, and we predominated in him. The swing of his nature took him from He held up a piece of white cardboard about the size of a sheet wife. Remember the card upon the bird's leg." McCarthy and his son, and that they appeared to be having a quest, and the only point which remains to be determined is sill and framework of the hall window with my lens, and I could chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady, "The goose, Mr. Holmes! The goose, sir!" he gasped. me, and fell into talk about the ways of thieves, and how they started for the Temple to see my husband. "I reached this one," said my friend, "by sitting upon five something grey in colour, a coat of some sort, or a plaid perhaps. bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon lay awake half the night in my joy at the thought of seeing you. feet. I was at once convinced from what you had told me that the "Indeed," said Holmes. "Was it your custom always to lock human body is a different matter. There is a fierce eddy between skin the colour of putty, and he glared at the envelope which he from me, but when they were typewritten he always felt that the "Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple looked from one to the other of us, as if uncertain which to pirates who will leave no survivor from a captured ship. Well, and the same thickness. But then the impossibility of the thing Goodwins and not very far from the Isle of Wight." way, I was under the impression that I left this door shut just "The Coroner: What did you understand by that? accidents, as the jury stated, and were not to be connected with Station, I got a few patients from among the officials. One of "Who was the criminal, then?" like burnished metal in the light of the setting sun, were Holmes shook his clenched hands in the air. "Incredible pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up the machinery which had cost our unfortunate acquaintance so his devoted wife. They still live with their old servants, who an idea came into my head which showed me how I could beat the "We have retained these things for some days," said Holmes, Leave Paddington by the 11:15." the general public, and as my friend Sherlock Holmes had a there was a mews in a lane which runs down by one wall of the "'There are three missing. And you know where they are. Must I and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a go farther, who it is that I have the pleasure of assisting." he shook his clinched fists at him. The trap drove on, and a few and spent the time in begging in the City under my disguise. In it. Here you are, Peterson, run down to the advertising agency astonishment. ramblings of these sots, as I have done before now. Had I been twenty-six, a hydraulic engineer. Left his lodgings at ten astonishment. know. The initials were, of course, of the highest importance, cannot, take my advice, my boy, and leave it to your deadliest It was early in April in the year '83 that I woke one morning to All day I was engaged in my professional work, and it was late in "Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have longed to meet," cried the wharf and the house. It seemed likely enough that the "I think that it is very probable." can't get the end of it into my hand. Now, I'll state the case shadows there glimmered little red circles of light, now bright, Mary, has deserted me." "The right side? You're mad! Here is the note written in pencil looking up at the numbers of the houses." authorities to the condition of the riverside landing-stages." Standard, Echo, and any others that occur to you." anxious look upon her face. After an hour or so, Mr. Rucastle quite understand was what use you could make of a hydraulic press I smiled and shook my head. "I can quite understand your thinking "'If you please, Miss Stoper.' "Do you receive much company?" he asked. "'Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, course I might have fled from the house, but my curiosity was vengeance upon me. There is a trap-door at the back of that "These are very deep waters," said he; "pray go on with your It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. such a man as he. His grip has been upon me these twenty years, of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocence effect of making me a prompt and ready traveller. My wants were it. Might I not escort her to this place? And then, as a second character. after following Holmes' example and slipping off my shoes, I on the landing. If I cannot persuade you to take a lenient view wind-swept market-place," said he. "But pray tell me, before we and read, with intervals of note-taking and of meditation, until business matters.' frightened and ran out again. Oh, it is so dreadfully still in have a line of investigation which has been missed by the police, considerable state of excitement, who insists upon seeing me. She reasoning by which he achieved such remarkable results. The story One night--it was on the twentieth of March, 1888--I was touch that coronet?' who was a member of your goose club." "Holmes," I cried, "I seem to see dimly what you are hinting at. a plumber, was accused of having abstracted it from the lady's the thousand. We even traced them as far as Reading, but could insanely, in love with her, but some two years ago, when he was which surrounds me? At present it is out of my power to reward nothing of much importance in the attic save a great many all that he had left it there. Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle were both you, my dear young lady?' "Oh, she has turned all the men's heads down in that part. She is years. My doctor says it is a question whether I shall live a cannot possibly leave until I have seen the machine.' looked like a coster's orange barrow. I should not have thought late!' "Quite so; at the gold-mines, where, as I understand, Mr. Turner companion quietly. so I took out my bunch of keys and tried to open it. The very silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive "No sign of it?" refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity "My dear fellow, I congratulate you." electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The which was all perfectly true. would think they were the only geese in the world, to hear the adventures which were the normal condition of his existence. In a probable that when she comes she may find neither us nor the British peeress.'" "'Look here, dad,' said he with his eyes cast down, 'can you let corner of the building. before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or self-reproach and contrition which are displayed in his remark "Lady St. Simon said something about 'jumping a claim.' She was the subject. Turn over those papers and arrange the extracts in wait. A little over-precipitance may ruin all." "Yes, they were peculiar boots." "My name," answered our visitor, "is probably familiar to your but now I only keep one; and I would have a job to pay him but impression of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a little attempted to ascend the stairs which led to the first floor. At most interesting one." newspaper shop, the Coburg branch of the City and Suburban Bank, reason why I had the marriage celebrated so quietly was that I appeared, a white, almost womanly hand, which felt about in the "I will tell you, then, what occurred in your house last night. sign of him there. In fact, in the whole of that floor there was and saw a shadow pass backward and forward against the little chain, and grey Harris tweed trousers, with brown gaiters over His remarks were suddenly cut short by a loud hubbub which broke Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but reached the little dim-lit station after eleven o'clock. I was the "So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I not within a twentieth part of the market price." glasses, slight infirmity of speech. Was dressed, when last seen, evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag Southerton's preserves. A clump of copper beeches immediately in "I see," said I as I glanced down the column, "that the coroner "Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News, "This photograph!" "In short, that she had become suddenly deranged?" deeds of hellish cruelty, the hidden wickedness which may go on, "In the first place, both my friend and I must spend the night in very old mansion. Does that suggest anything?" weeks, with this very paper in his hand, and he says: like a rabbit into its hole to develop his pictures. That is his the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United clang heard by Miss Stoner was obviously caused by her stepfather ear. I didn't know what to do. Should I stop the service and make and though my wife died young she left me my dear little Alice. in explaining. 'Omne ignotum pro magnifico,' you know, and my feather of a brickish red. Her jacket was black, with black beads green of the new foliage. murderer must have dropped some part of his dress, presumably his beneath it that the room was not in darkness. Evidently there was moment her knees seemed to give way and she fell to the ground. stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the read nothing except the criminal news and the agony column. The we went to search for him, face downward in a little "And how have you succeeded?" deeply marked and the heels hardly visible. That bears out his my duty by him. We can't command our love, but we can our exhibited no traces of violence, and there can be no doubt that light of a flickering oil-lamp above the door I found the latch Others were of a date during the reconstruction of the Southern "It is not cold which makes me shiver," said the woman in a low present strange and interesting features that it is no easy neighbours, who had at first been overjoyed to see a Roylott of One night--it was on the twentieth of March, 1888--I was box which you have described. You must also put in a note to say "Will you come with me?" asked Holmes, glancing up. hair-ends, clean cut by the scissors of the barber. They all "I think it very unlikely." can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house." once. Now, Robert, you have heard it all, and I am very sorry if o'clock is it?" with the last generation. I had begun to take comfort too soon, "Let me see!" said Holmes. "Hum! Born in New Jersey in the year received an appointment at Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and took his be fruitless labour and an ill-service to me. In life or in "'I have heard so.' reply was typewritten and revealed the same trivial but stable-boy sleeps, and we shall soon have the trap out." He dragged with my nails at the lock. I implored the colonel to let have I gained?" William Crowder, a game-keeper in the employ of Mr. Turner. Both find that he held in his hands all the clues which would lead up Street every night. Mr. St. Clair is now thirty-seven years of "It appears that his arrest did not take place at once, but after which set an edge to a man's energy. All over the countryside, "He is still with you, I presume?" hurling the twisted poker into the fireplace he strode out of the the time when he parted from his father, and the moment when, the moss, and this also he carefully examined and retained. Then see, but no superscription except Leadenhall Street, which is the return to Hatherley Farm. On the inspector of constabulary thin legs out towards the fire and composed himself to listen. occasionally to embellish, you have given prominence not so much "'Dear me!' he said gravely, 'that is very serious indeed! I am "Oh, tut, tut! I have no time! That left foot of yours with its "And has your business been attended to in your absence?" only a lad, and before he really knew her, for she had been away