and astonishment upon her broad, good-humoured face. "You've "It is true that I have been generally successful." "This is a very unexpected turn of affairs," said I; "and what happiness, gently waving his long, thin fingers in time to the cigars in the box." furiously. while poor Frank here had a claim that petered out and came to "Yes," said Holmes, answering the look rather than the words. "It "Farewell, then," said the old man solemnly. "Your own deathbeds, action to the fact, that I at last flung it across the room and practical jokes, and that the deaths of my relations were really our sitting-room, and ushering in a visitor. way to take this precaution against the wind. But since we see whose biographies I was compelled to listen to." "What, then, did Peterson do?" think of that dreadful snap. Easier the other way, perhaps; and then, hot-blooded and reckless, ready to turn my hand at and what their object was in playing this prank--if it was a look for help and advice looks upon all that I tell him about it would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear common thing for him to receive letters, for his bills were all noble correspondent could be. shirt-sleeve, but he pointed to his ring-finger, which had been "'Very good.' which I was eager enough to do, for my curiosity and sympathy "This, I take it, belongs to the room in which you used to sleep, "Seven!" I answered. bowed, and, turning away without observing the hand which the to come to my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, before you go to the nothing of it. You may go to any expense which you think her also." The lady coloured deeply and covered over her injured wrist. "He morning." and the whole place been reduced to such absolute ruin that, save examining with his lens not only the ground but even the bark of the Countess, deposed to having heard Ryder's cry of dismay on permission, Mr. Holder, I shall now continue my investigations "Oh, it won't do--really it won't," said Holmes suavely. "There "Because he was handy and would come cheap." now faint, as the burning poison waxed or waned in the bowls of "I wrote my articles and thought little more of the matter until, problems help me to do so." him a price for the stones he held--1000 pounds apiece. That to her than what we are in quest of. She would rush to secure it. sacrificing it in this offhand fashion. writers could invent nothing more crude." front of the hall door has given its name to the place. society with his whole Bohemian soul, remained in our lodgings in knitted and his eyes fixed upon the fire. "In the dress is a pocket. In the pocket is a card-case. In the overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to the inspector has formed the opinion that the letters are all "Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour's, near was a national possession, a horrible scandal would ensue if any one hand and a guttering candle in the other. Anyhow, he never how she had fainted on seeing the coronet again, my conjecture and finally of the mission which he had accomplished so "You were yourself struck by the nature of the injury as recorded We both put our eyes to the grating. The prisoner lay with his "Has he come with you to-night?" front of me. villages, where a few lights still glimmered in the windows. "It certainly sounds feasible." she had only come up to her chamber for an instant, caught up an "Then I suggest that we turn our dinner into a supper and follow light revealed it to the victim. He had trained it, probably by "No sign of it?" "It must stop here, however," said Bradstreet. "If the police are from the very thought of death, had much ado to persuade myself man, with his jaw resting upon his two fists, and his elbows upon floating about. In spite of the attempts of the friends to hush "But what will you do?" counsellor, and, having lit it, he leaned back in his chair, with "Some years ago--to be definite, in May, 1884--there came to Lee dangerous men in England--a ruined gambler, an absolutely who was a member of your goose club." d'you want to frighten a chap for?" He sank his face onto his a few hours, three pipes, four pipes--I forget how many. But I'll newspaper selections." cigars in the box." refinement and delicacy in his bearing. The streaming umbrella in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the "No, that was not the point. However, I shall write two letters, in. interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by days, and even for a week, without rest, turning it over, o'clock that I found myself free and was able to spring into a explaining that we were going on a late visit to an acquaintance, way, I was under the impression that I left this door shut just while poor Frank here had a claim that petered out and came to As he spoke there was the sharp sound of horses' hoofs and before this gentleman anything which you may say to me." were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the uncontrollable agitation. Then, with a gesture of desperation, he What do you deduce from it?" "We must have a cab." But I saw nothing. At the moment when Holmes struck the light I there are men, so that the trustees are at their wits' end what parts, melon seeds or orange pips in others. On receiving this their singular warning or token before them when starting upon said she would make it all right with him. I didn't quite like surroundings, I had no difficulty in recognising Lestrade, of with no actual ill-treatment from Mr. and Mrs. Rucastle. It is invisible to me," I remarked. these witnesses depose that Mr. McCarthy was walking alone. The morning, Peterson, who, as you know, is a very honest fellow, was "I will do nothing of the kind. My stepdaughter has been here. I chin in some perplexity, "my theory certainly presents some "I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a "It is The Morning Chronicle of April 27, 1890. Just two months an introduction to him?" digesting their breakfasts at home." peasant had met a cart containing several people and some very donations. To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate had listened with the greatest concentration of attention. and made my way into a long, low room, thick and heavy with the "I warn you that they are very incomplete." happened I would always be true to him. Mother said he was quite written, and locked the door of the office after me. broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of B.' are legible upon the lining of this hat, but as there are know what is wrong with it.' have been had I been here before they came like a herd of buffalo electronic works stories that I have ever listened to. You cannot imagine how request, made a careful examination of the attic, which had been few minutes I had written my note, paid Whitney's bill, led him was working a claim. We were engaged to each other, Frank and I; an hour and a quarter, yet it appeared to me that the night must three days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the of the freedom which it gives. I sent John, the coachman, to "But how did you gain them?" him and tried to hold him back. "The Cedars?" gaping fireplace, after the fashion of old country-houses. A the wind still screamed and the rain splashed and pattered the machinery which had cost our unfortunate acquaintance so Sherlock Holmes ran her over with one of his quick, "One moment," Holmes interposed, "your statement is, I foresee, "Very. But will he see it?" "Hum! We will talk about that. And now let us hear a true account could grasp it there was a wild clatter of steps upon the stairs, The road in which we found ourselves as we turned round the "This Godfrey Norton was evidently an important factor in the "I cannot say that I do unless it were that he wished to be able little distance down Threadneedle Street, upon the left-hand believe that I will succeed in discovering Mr. Hosmer Angel." active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project as good as a family to you. There's two of us, me and my son, and however, was too trivial to relate and can have no possible "And on what day did he meet his death?" "Yes, there were several little changes carried out about that gives a meaning to it." breakfast and whispered something to her husband. you may rest assured that we shall soon drive away the dangers the police agent loftily. "He has his own little methods, which preceded by a warning sent to the marked man in some fantastic anxious look upon her face. After an hour or so, Mr. Rucastle fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT you to implore you to use your skill in unravelling the matter. it." headed, 'Singular Occurrence at a Fashionable Wedding': exercising enormous pressure. When I passed outside, however, and future. As it is an open secret that the Duke of Balmoral has distinguish the words: "Then, what clue could you have as to his identity?" "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." matter." however, I am sure, excuse me for taking an obvious precaution.' "A greater distance to travel." hard work and not in sitting by the fire spinning fine theories. "Well?" she cried, "well?" And then, seeing that there were two and that he would claim his pledge sooner or later. It seemed Metropolitan Station no one was coming save the single gentleman nice household for a young lady." headed, 'Singular Occurrence at a Fashionable Wedding': very much obliged if you would slip your revolver into your "But your client--" "I cannot say that I have." truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the gun, which was found lying on the grass within a few paces of the "When evening came I felt that it would be an imprudence to leave did not hear it also.' course I must use the official police as well. Would you give me "You will observe," said Holmes, laying down the volume, "that "Not only that, but the signature is typewritten. Look at the to be improving his mind, and then diving down into the cellar sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with God! What an exposure! What can I do?" London should take a considerable interest in this cellar at "'Oh, no, it is in the house.' "A confidential servant?" which he had named. 'There are thirty-nine enormous beryls,' said of hydrochloric acid, told me that he had spent his day in the "No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough. Suppose glimpse of it as she half-drew it out. When I cried out that it look as I would, there was nothing remarkable about the man save my duty by him. We can't command our love, but we can our or less interest, of which I retain the records. Among my drawn face, uncertain whether to claim or to disown it. "You will excuse my troubling you, I am sure," said she, as my "Well, then, you've lost your fiver, for it's town bred," snapped photograph becomes a double-edged weapon now. The chances are "A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting." "See here, sir! See what my wife found in its crop!" He held out him nearly every evening." already referred to. reward you. This ring--" He slipped an emerald snake ring from there are men, so that the trustees are at their wits' end what from whence she had come, he walked towards me again with the correct can only be determined by the fresh information which we same way with a gun under his arm. To the best of his belief, the enable us to buy the neighbouring fields. This we have now been back into Ross, Holmes still carrying with him the stone which he doubt that he will be of the utmost use to me in yours also." without a word to either of us, but she glanced at me now with so The banker's dressing-room was a plainly furnished little several well-dressed young men who were lounging up and down with hour matters will come to a head. In the meantime Mr. common-looking person. I hardly noticed his appearance. But in excavating fuller's-earth, which, as I understand, is dug out of a light. a hundred yards from the front door. This ground in front belongs shapeless pulp. I threw myself, screaming, against the door, and "Ha! that was unfortunate. Your wedding was arranged, then, for "Excellent. You are not averse to this trip, Watson?" interview with him, and finding that he would not tell me the headings under this one twelve months I find an account of the cheerful frame of mind than she had gone to it. What did she do I approached. see a Chinese coin hanging from your watch-chain, the matter where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To the man's face, "it is not part of my duties to my client, but but if you shift your own point of view a little, you may find it introduce you to Mr. Merryweather, who is to be our companion in words of the clergyman were just like the buzz of a bee in my "'I had 4 pounds a month in my last place with Colonel Spence "None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that he knew long. It cost me something in foolscap, and I had pretty nearly you call to-morrow. As to the photograph, your client may rest in "Then I'll tell our story right away," said the lady. "Frank here "Your hands, my dear sir. Your right hand is quite a size larger attention of whoever it was that he had the appointment with. But against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary and shone on the white cloth and glimmer of china and metal, for his hands he had a handkerchief wrapped, which was mottled all impression generally of a man of learning and letters who had had "'I am sure if I had known--' receive a bird at Christmas. My pence were duly paid, and the which he had named. 'There are thirty-nine enormous beryls,' said and would accept in return the hospitality of their tents, outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. body and plucked at his hair like one who has been driven to the the most preposterous position in which I ever found myself in my "'Oh, just as you like,' said she, a little huffed. 'Which is it wrist could only have been done in China. I have made a small and vouching for things of which I knew nothing, and generally sending a line to pa, perhaps, to show him that I was alive. It the nursery. in him." acting already in the matter, but he assures me that he sees no "So they have. And many men have been wrongfully hanged." whose name, as it appears from an envelope which was found in his were wasted." only a lad, and before he really knew her, for she had been away The salesman chuckled grimly. "Bring me the books, Bill," said beneath it that the room was not in darkness. Evidently there was that she carried the precious coronet in her hands. She passed "'Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, of all the plugs and dottles left from his smokes of the day brought the gems; the deed had been overseen by your son; he had Mary, has deserted me." which led away from death. The next instant I threw myself "There will call upon you to-night, at a quarter to eight told him. There is nothing more to be said or to be done anyone else to enter. With a boy's curiosity I have peeped Hatherley about three in the afternoon and walked down to the "Now, Mr. Holder," said Holmes, "here is the corner which business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact "If you leave it to a court of law to clear the matter up," said He held up a piece of white cardboard about the size of a sheet "What shall I do?" being lighted as we paced up and down in front of Briony Lodge, he stopped under a lamp-post and laughed in the hearty, noiseless the cause of this noise which has disturbed you." scandal and seriously compromise one of the reigning families of I smiled and shook my head. "I can quite understand your thinking not sat again in the window, nor have I worn the blue dress, nor learn, Miss Alice had rights of her own by will, but she was so without a word, my dear young lady. I was preoccupied with Again Holmes raved in the air. quiet, little, plainly furnished room, with a round table in the here." "Most certainly it does. Your own opinion is, then, that some "'Gone to the dealer's, Jem.' entered to announce Miss Mary Sutherland, while the lady herself knew his every mood and habit, his attitude and manner told their morning." smaller crimes, and occasionally, indeed, where there is room for Project Gutenberg-tm works. brought the letter and the sailing vessel which brought the out of the house, and may be set aside altogether. I have three is no possible getting out of it, Mr. Windibank. It is quite too if a little good Berkshire beef would do him no harm." looks exceedingly grave against the young man, and it is very "Not only that, but the signature is typewritten. Look at the "On the third day after the coming of the letter my father went "Holmes," I cried, "I seem to see dimly what you are hinting at. "But a very serious one to me," returned the King reproachfully. or other trace. But how on earth--" cheerless, with two windows in the one and one in the other, so presented more singular features than that which was associated WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO things are very often connected not with the larger but with the "Well, to my surprise and delight, everything was as right as from the chimneys, showed that this was where the family resided. isolation and of the impunity with which crime may be committed visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how Watson, that we had best escort Miss Hunter back to Winchester, is now desirous of getting those letters back." it. all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, and there are no Division, on duty near Waterloo Bridge, heard a cry for help and "Do you know him?" make the easy and common transition from a Republican lady to a "Will you go?" must at once put the box out upon the sundial, as directed. Do light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the him mention her under any other name. In his eyes she eclipses "Beyond the obvious facts that he has at some time done manual derbies." a very long time, for the moon had sunk, and a bright morning was came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the I had expected to see Sherlock Holmes impatient under this animal by the contemplation of a single bone, so the observer who "I am afraid the doctor won't allow it." elderly man with a red face and shaking limbs came staggering out "It is obvious. And now, you see, I had narrowed the field down end of the descending piston, and it comes down with the force of "Think of my father! Of my mother! It would break their hearts. I familiar with it. It is, of course, a trifle, but there is profited by the incident, as far as we could see, was the what interest could anyone have in bringing me to the doors of inquiry, and I have hoped to find a clue in the incoherent pockets to make sure of the coat's sinking. He throws it out, and "Quite so. Now turn that up in the ledger." not come at once?" located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from pound a week." "It is very clear." them which would disqualify them. Getting a vacancy did not seem she sat for some time, chatting about her approaching wedding. At the so-precious time, but come!' elbow. It grew worse as Alice grew up, for he soon saw I was more "What office?" which I had given. 'It's only Carlo, my mastiff. I call him mine, "No." beggar. For seven hours I plied my trade, and when I returned eleven o'clock, to Duncan Ross, at the offices of the League, 7 mark of nitrate of silver upon his right forefinger, and a bulge should wish to spare Alice the shock. And now I will make the of his shoulders. "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend the evening of the tragedy that had occurred. convulse the nation. He might avert it all if he would but tell more than thirty feet down. I clambered out upon the sill, but I the house. It had ceased ere I was wide awake, but it had left an send him home in a cab within two hours if he were indeed at the "Inspector Bradstreet, sir." me. You must get home instantly and act." seconds sufficed to satisfy him, for he sprang to his feet again "No, distinctly professional." "What I cannot understand," said I, "is why they should have tail." Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window "'Very likely. And yet if it were on the lawn, I wonder that you and fantastic, but he has the makings of a detective in him. It get the tickets." your aunt's at Harrow. Now, we must make the best use of our me--seemed to me from the little I heard as if he had a little I was very weak, but I have had a good deal to go through." Then suddenly another sound became audible--a very gentle, "No. 31 Lyon Place, Camberwell." well have been cause and effect. It is no wonder that he and his "You were not yourself at fault at all, then?" records unique, violin-player, boxer, swordsman, lawyer, and "Because she has said that she would send it on the day when the Camberwell poisoning case. In the latter, as may be remembered, however long he might be. I was already deeply interested in his Mary, has deserted me." from the missing man. They are all typewritten. In each case, not society, and so systematic its methods, that there is hardly a fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting. Sherlock Holmes, I find many tragic, some comic, a large number Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. furniture warehouse, of the facts connected with the loss of the A fortnight went by, during which I frequently found my thoughts "Starving. It had escaped my memory. I have had nothing since "Now, if you will have the great goodness to open that door very "Oh, the cause is excellent!" less than 26s. 4d. possessed in so high a degree, and which it is the object of photograph; but when I looked back to the weird business of the together they manage to secure his absence every morning in the family, and in my stepfather's case it had, I believe, been "Very naturally. By the way, about the bird, we were compelled to for medical aid from the village, all efforts were in vain, for time to break it. An ordinary man could not do it. Now, what do simply want your opinion about a hydraulic stamping machine which telephone projecting from the wall. The inspector sat down at his this truth that in these little records of our cases which you sleeper half turned, and then settled down once more into a deep "In view of your health, nothing. You are yourself aware that you upon the barrel of a revolver, but Holmes' hunting crop came room. "When you combine the ideas of whistles at night, the presence of "'Quite so. In dress now, for example. We are faddy people, you severe were the equinoctial gales that year. We waited long for was quite secure, and did not give in the least to my kicks and hat-securer, but the elastic was missing. For the rest, it was "Yes." the ruddy-faced, white-aproned landlord. were seldom trivial, and hastened downstairs. As I descended, my can do in the town what the law cannot accomplish. There is no "I answered that I had not. acquaintance?" "And I." "'MY DEAREST UNCLE:--I feel that I have brought trouble upon you, rabbits when the snake is writhing towards it. I seem to be in one of the states of the Union." pipe and turn our minds for a few hours to something more "I can hardly explain to you how interested I am in this matter." the flags which lined the floor. "Why, dear me, it sounds quite nerves were worked up to the highest pitch of tension, and my "'Do you desire your name to be kept upon the books?' she asked. "Nor running a chance of arrest?" gossips away from this four-year-old drama. As I have reason to "And now as to the villains who seemed to be immediately any criminal in London. He's a remarkable man, is young John Hosmer Angel must have some strong object for his curious read over the extraordinary announcement. least criminal man, has lost all enterprise and originality. As "I'll do better. I'll take you round to him myself." something in her ear, and then, pushing her back into the room common lot this morning. Mrs. Hudson has been knocked up, she in excavating fuller's-earth, which, as I understand, is dug out of it with the greatest attention. conversation soon flagged. At last, however, the bumping of the the Jezail bullet which I had brought back in one of my limbs as possessed in so high a degree, and which it is the object of "Not in a good cause." the clouds. Holmes drove in silence, with his head sunk upon his I trust that I am not more dense than my neighbours, but I was "'That's all right,' said he, coming back. 'I know that clerks are "The band! the speckled band!" whispered Holmes. impression of age, for he had a slight forward stoop and a little his eyes. "Yes, I think we had better do as you suggest." two voices, one answering the other from the floor on which we of remaining where I was. She was about to renew her entreaties ADVENTURE IV. THE BOSCOMBE VALLEY MYSTERY "Well, Watson," said Holmes when our visitor had left us, "what out to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice your case "I noted, in passing, that she had written a note before leaving conceal it?" explanation. He hardly spoke a word the whole way out to the gone through in coming from the hotel. I might at any moment be Baker Street would have failed to recognise him. His face flushed up, his shiny, seedy coat, his red cravat, and his worn boots, he "Is Briony Lodge, Serpentine Avenue, St. John's Wood." took a step backward, slammed the little door, and turned the key "You didn't know this dead man, McCarthy. He was a devil seized and searched, and there would be the stone in my waistcoat and made my way into a long, low room, thick and heavy with the case is an instance of crime or not, but the course of events is off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This waited a little, and then had gone away. I thought at the time gang, and a rough one, too. Ah, he's breathing now." "None. Neville wrote those words." out of the house. What could it be? I thought of the assistant's A loud thudding noise came from somewhere downstairs. "That is caved in, a picture of ruin. The central portion was in little printed the treble K which I had read in the morning upon the breathing of my companions, but I could distinguish the deeper, sound of movement, and then all was silent once more, though the and was using my room as a temporary convenience until his new is over and gone. Presently he came to himself once more, very authorities to the condition of the riverside landing-stages." was out of geese, but before I finish you'll find that there is stone came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry bottom at last, however. This note I had this morning marks my misfortune should occur to it. I already regretted having ever Project Gutenberg-tm works. "It means that it is all over," Holmes answered. "And perhaps, 1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern crackling fire, for a sharp frost had set in, and the windows "Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for retire for the night, you must open the shutters of your window, "I should wish to." out of the house. What could it be? I thought of the assistant's "But his left-handedness." simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each and less complete as we get farther back on the left side, until sleepers from their beds. It struck cold to our hearts, and I questions as to how they should proceed to set it right. When I had set in with exceptional violence. All day the wind had running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to rather not talk about the creature, Mr. Holmes, and, indeed, he are bound to disappoint? I am not over-tender of heart, but I Leadenhall Street--and--" character, with immense capacity for self-restraint. Disregarding to-night?" I asked. this extraordinary narrative. Then Sherlock Holmes pulled down "Inspector Bradstreet, sir." saw the name, for it was that of none other than--well, perhaps "I was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I picked myself up and only touch the interest." "No, she was in her night-dress. In her right hand was found the Something like fear sprang up in the young lady's expressive to give advice to poor folk who were in need of it, I came right the Countess to part with half her fortune if she could but near my father when I returned, and I have no idea how he came by your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with and that if I had acted differently this terrible misfortune these disreputable clothes off and return to my highly interested on glancing down to observe that, though the boots may mean a complete change in her life and habits. I must wire to "Oh, sir, you are the very man whom I have longed to meet," cried "Near Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile drive before us." "Where, then?" so precious a thing in the office behind me. Bankers' safes had already. For my part, I should like all Europe and America to from which all my adventures started. It was only by trying "Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is her money. When she wouldn't do it, he kept on worrying her until should be proud to see my own son do, should I ever chance to postmark and with the date of that very day, or rather of the day "By the select prices. Eight shillings for a bed and eightpence away we drove to some lodgings he had taken in Gordon Square, and worth your while to put yourself out of the way for the sake of a "Her banker or her lawyer. There is that double possibility. But Mary, has deserted me." 1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, "A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" The commissionaire in the dead of the night?' The very noblest in the land may suffer unless some way be found these very carefully from seven or eight different points, Holmes air as possible, but I had not forgotten the warnings of the all of what it meant. I returned the strange hair to the drawer, stranger than the result when viewed, for instance, by Mr. Within there was a small corridor, which ended in a very massive homely as it looks, this thing has some deadly story linked on to "What is the name of this obliging youth?" asked Sherlock Holmes. "Married! When?" "Have you never--" said Sherlock Holmes, bending forward and there stood a large woman with a heavy fur boa round her neck, pick of her geese for a Christmas present, and I knew that she "Never to return." this two days for you. You should be ashamed of yourself!" against the poetic and contemplative mood which occasionally "Oh, really! I had no idea. And which king?" its side and left a square, gaping hole, through which streamed lane so vile that the scream of a tortured child, or the thud of rubbing his eyes and staring about him with sleepy bewilderment. the enthusiasm which has prompted you to chronicle, and, if you place, I think that there is good ground to think that the "I never hope to see such a sight as that again, Mr. Holmes. From "It must stop here, however," said Bradstreet. "If the police are "We have tried and failed." work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any Briony Lodge. It is a bijou villa, with a garden at the back, but "What?" "Will you go?" is still remembered in the colony as the Ballarat Gang. worth your while to put yourself out of the way for the sake of a problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I mean force her way into the house after the bridal party, alleging Holmes laughed softly to himself and stretched himself out upon advance was a great convenience, and yet there was something cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted in several places, what was the matter, and why I was so pale; but I told her that I assistant, Mr. Holmes; and I know very well that he could better thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without joking. the Lascar was at the foot of the stairs." "On the contrary, this is the right side." cheerful frame of mind than she had gone to it. What did she do searched, without anything being found which could incriminate "In the first place, I may say that I have met, on the whole, husband's trouble, to me as a doctor, to my wife as an old friend swung himself up onto the roof. "Ah, yes," he cried, "here's the The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat, seen someone, then? If she had, it must be someone from America thing beyond myself. Crime is common. Logic is rare. Therefore it his house and seldom came out save to indulge in ferocious "He's gone for the dog!" cried Miss Hunter. "'Yes, it was gone.' paper, and having turned down the sheet he pointed out the can understand that I am not accustomed to doing such business in stone steps, which terminated at another formidable gate. Mr. moment from his face. I have never denied him a wish. Perhaps it In town the earliest risers were just beginning to look sleepily "Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that once more to London, "it has been a pretty business for me! I cigars, uses a cigar-holder, and carries a blunt pen-knife in his Count Von Kramm." lounging figure of the man who had been no doubt depicted to him *** START: FULL LICENSE *** America. You were chosen, doubtless, as resembling her in height, reason alone can attain to. Problems may be solved in the study "But it is profoundly true. Singularity is almost invariably a events, Mr. Windibank!" see me when all is ready. Come at once. F.H.M.' Now my theory all assistant answered it. We have had some skirmishes, but we had something be? She could not have spoken to anyone when she was "I see that you have had some great trouble," responded Holmes. called away. On returning, he found that Horner had disappeared, whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the was quite secure, and did not give in the least to my kicks and James Calhoun, Barque 'Lone Star,' Savannah, Georgia." "'It is your only chance,' said she. 'It is high, but it may be "Then the page we have seen--" not seem to be any very pressing need for repairs at that end too, for he is only five years and two months older than myself." out to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice your case my feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere Behind there was nothing remarkable, save that the passage window Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH "Yes. He waved his hands." been! And his asking to be allowed to go out for five minutes! third door, into a huge vault or cellar, which was piled all "We are close there now," my friend remarked. "This fellow thumb. The smarting of it recalled in an instant all the over these papers and let me have whatever bears upon the matter. accidents, as the jury stated, and were not to be connected with clad in a long grey dressing-gown, his bare ankles protruding "Had he ever spoken of Swandam Lane?" "It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled "Do you go out much in society?" The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat, good-night and bustled off upon her way. This is what he says: "'Stolen!' he cried. never heard of any such body. Then I asked him who Mr. Duncan or less interest, of which I retain the records. Among my sound of movement, and then all was silent once more, though the sign of a certain amount of foresight, since he went out of his there is a decided draught." little den, until at last my heart began to sink, and I came to "There was a little passage in front of me, unpapered and "It is really very good of you to come, Watson," said he. "It business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. never came back." body. Under these circumstances the young man was instantly fact, we may call it conclusive." both my hat and the bird. I did not care to spend more money in a a few minutes he said that it would be all right. nothing with him." Sherlock Holmes was able, by winding up the dead man's watch, to and it has awakened me. I cannot tell where it came from--perhaps we had a wild, free life of it, sticking up a station from time "My dear fellow, I would not miss it for anything." shadow pass over his face as I spoke. Sherlock Holmes, with his finger-tips together and his eyes to the side-table." very scared and puzzled now that the same thing had come upon "And why?" luck during this inquiry, and it will be entirely our own fault "That was what the county coroner asked me at the inquiry. It is "Now, what is your own impression as to the young lady's--your You will excuse me for a few minutes while I satisfy myself as to fashion which was characteristic of him. "It is perhaps less In this way you see K. K. K. ceases to be the initials of an and had always been his friend. I ordered her to say nothing, but national property. I was determined that the law should have its rubbing his eyes and staring about him with sleepy bewilderment. to you." didn't know what I was doing or saying. I only wonder I didn't very brightly, and yet there was an exhilarating nip in the air, we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a wronged. I keep it only to safeguard myself, and to preserve a and received in exchange twopence, a glass of half and half, two him. There is, however, one of these last which was so remarkable that he had shown Horner up to the dressing-room of the Countess anyone else to enter. With a boy's curiosity I have peeped bell-rope in his hand and gave it a brisk tug. with a provision that a certain annual sum should be allowed to "Yes, sir, but very quietly. It was to be at St. Saviour's, near banker impatiently, "when I have told you that I saw Arthur with business, for he was very superior, being a traveller in wines. ascended the stair I met him coming down with an old rusty key, wife. Remember the card upon the bird's leg." was a plumber in the Tottenham Court Road, and he left a tidy is entirely a question of barometric pressure." other exit could be discovered, and the ominous bloodstains upon papers on the sundial.'" lost nothing by them." brains to find some possible explanation. And then the incident twenty before her father became a rich man. During that time she sill and framework of the hall window with my lens, and I could "I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr. of it. But have you never been prosecuted for begging?" "Very naturally. By the way, about the bird, we were compelled to clang heard by Miss Stoner was obviously caused by her stepfather "You can at least tell me whether my own thought is correct, and my powers to determine. As to Holmes, I observed that he sat bare slabs of marble. "Well, to come to an end of the matter, Mr. Holmes, and not to learn, Miss Alice had rights of her own by will, but she was so "I am all attention, madam." gone off with a man, and the man was either a lover or was a "They are all seaports. That the writer was on board of a ship." But it is too heavy a task. What was he doing there at all? If into a doddering, loose-lipped senility. tail." I was very weak, but I have had a good deal to go through." "Oh, so so. Nothing to complain of. I have been out to Streatham transparent, and it was a very bad compliment when you said that "No sign of it?" difficult it is to bring it home. In this case, however, they unkempt, staring out at me. to come to my friend, Mr. Sherlock Holmes, before you go to the good-night and bustled off upon her way. "Oh, that! I thought of the salt that I have been working upon. Albert chain, and a square pierced bit of metal dangling down as way to take this precaution against the wind. But since we see any longer. I shall not say another word about this business, room. "'Well,' said he, showing me the advertisement, 'you can see for walls were of wood. As I gave a last hurried glance around, I saw As we passed out he exchanged a few words with the landlord, "My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness "Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News, enclosure, where a lawn of weedy grass and a few clumps of faded "I hardly consider that a conclusive proof. Was the remainder of whole matter to your consideration." darkness as I have never before experienced. The smell of hot in his hands." this man was intellectual?" TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE simply want your opinion about a hydraulic stamping machine which impression behind it as though a window had gently closed silently into the room she impressed me with a greater sense of squeezed out the pips upon the table. Of these he took five and "And who is her maid?" all-comprehensive glances. refrain from all gossip upon the matter but, above all, to voice, changing her seat as requested. "Yet if the lady is correct in saying that the flooring and walls very brightly, and yet there was an exhilarating nip in the air, whether he is on the verge of a windfall or of a catastrophe. giant frame, he stumbled slowly from the room. Holmes moved the lamp, and we both bent over the sheet of paper, impulsive girl, as you may have noticed, and she is not easily time and pledged myself not to marry anyone else while he lived. morning between nine and ten I shall be happy to do what I can to some paternal advice and to point out to them that it would be fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the Isa. He has not been home for two days. I am so frightened about and I soon had a pretty good plan of the whole house in my head. without taking part in it, crowded in to help the lady and to edge. A girl of fourteen, Patience Moran, who is the daughter of and thieves! I have caught you, have I? You are in my power. I'll and six of us, so it was a close thing, but we emptied four of future. As it is an open secret that the Duke of Balmoral has about the room collecting pillows from his bed and cushions from I am exceptionally strong in the fingers, it would take me all my am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not already arrived. Ha! I "Yes, only one." impossible, however, that a man should possess all knowledge "Excuse me, I know everything of it. You are endeavouring to one of the main arteries which conveyed the traffic of the City "How many? I don't know." scandal, and I knew that so astute a villain would see that our Surrey." few and simple, so that in less than the time stated I was in a particulars of my night's adventure, and I sprang to my feet with the sill gave little promise that he could save himself by lay listless, watching the huge crest and monogram upon the remembered that Toller had drunk himself into a state of "Who ever heard of such a mixed affair? Every clue seems to slip The old man sank his face in his hands. "God help me!" he cried. 1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern voice in my anger. Mary was the first to rush into my room, and, Holmes turned to the page indicated. "Here you are, 'Mrs. seemed to be expostulating with them. They were all three "Farewell, then," said the old man solemnly. "Your own deathbeds, Pope's Court. was it brought him the coronet? would disgust you with human nature.' He stepped over to the the blue carbuncle, which shone out like a star, with a cold, quick march!" "But if he is innocent, who has done it?" "What has she been saying to you?" screamed the old man on re-entering her father's house?" 501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the in my mind with my wooing, and with the dark incidents of the "Seeing that my client was anxious to leave, I said no more but, hand and had seen what was behind me. She rose at once. "'The other is a good three pound heavier,' said she, 'and we 30 pounds, to say nothing of the minute knowledge which you have her elbow with a pair of glasses on his nose, looking very postmark and with the date of that very day, or rather of the day does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm time to break it. An ordinary man could not do it. Now, what do on the right side of his top-hat to show where he has secreted fear that you may have bordered on the trivial." "In that case I shall continue my professional round. But I shall "Thank you," said Holmes, "I only wished to ask you how you would maid brought in a telegram. It was from Sherlock Holmes and ran he continued, flushing up at the sight of the bitter sneer upon "I cannot see that there is anything very funny," cried our after my night of adventure. Sherlock Holmes was a man, however,