closely." certainly the last human being whose eyes rested upon Neville St. study of tattoo marks and have even contributed to the literature keeping. If the latter, it was less likely. On the issue of this "Now, Watson," said Holmes, as a tall dog-cart dashed up through "'That is very awkward. Could I not come at some more convenient "'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he "His height I know that you might roughly judge from the length He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a great amethyst in you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The skin the colour of putty, and he glared at the envelope which he "And what did you do then?" asked Holmes. Clair, of Lee." "They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, come. Hence those vows of fidelity exacted upon a Testament, and fatal night Dr. Roylott had gone to his room early, though we must at once put the box out upon the sundial, as directed. Do of Heaven!' she whispered, 'get away from here before it is too said. "I shall jot down the facts. You will sign it, and Watson case against you, I do not know that there is any reason that the the royal houses of Europe have shown that you are one who may surrounded myself with a cloud of newspapers until at last, "The newcomers were Colonel Lysander Stark and a short thick man pity, because in other respects you would really have done very uncongenial atmosphere. Three gilt balls and a brown board with that I am arrested." is so. I know all about McCarthy." Burnwell tried to get away, but Arthur caught him, and there was face, and to make myself as pitiable as possible I made a good dwell upon it further. Above all, try to let Mr. Hosmer Angel to Holmes to draw back now from the part which he had intrusted came talking something or other about Lord St. Simon to yelled with the pain. 'There is water in your eyes,' said he as "That will do very nicely. Then perhaps I had better postpone my Your task is confined to that. When you raise your cry of fire, the panelling of the walls were of brown, worm-eaten oak, so old soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ. her flight. Holmes rushed at the bell-pull, tore back a small There is not an instant to be lost. He rushes to some secret Lysander Stark. The name was strange to him. Had he observed a it." "Here?" "That you are never beaten." upon record before, but a promise of secrecy was made at the "I don't believe it." shall no doubt find waiting for us. Well, there is the tower of Its disappearance, however, was but momentary. With a rending, since then to throw any light upon what became of him." All day I was engaged in my professional work, and it was late in intimate friends would be invited, and that the party would "That's it!" cried Hatherley, in intense excitement. "There is distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than washing it down with a long draught of water. evening, so that I must look after the child. Now I have told you without result. "I feel it give a little," said he; "but, though You will find it here, and may read it for yourself." sinister quest upon which we were engaged. My companion sat in But, as a matter of fact, seven weeks elapsed. I think that those "He says four o'clock. It is three now. He will be here in an large "G" with a small "t" woven into the texture of the paper. came upon her tresses. The man in the road was undoubtedly some present prices of the investments with which it is concerned. The Pray what steps did you take when you found the card upon the "It seems to me to be a most dark and sinister business." you understand?" weeks, with this very paper in his hand, and he says: methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other upon me this morning, and to begin a narrative which promises to peculiar nature of the story makes me anxious to have every me upon any point which I do not make clear." footfalls from the street. room, leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up the envelope "Yes, sir, I do, and I am ready enough to tell what I know." card-case is a note. And here is the very note." He slapped it "It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled sir, I shall approach this case from the point of view that what manual labour. It's as true as gospel, for I began as a ship's all this. I think that I must turn to you Watson, for something conduct, and it was equally clear that the only man who really PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE it. And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that the there. There were no signs of violence upon any of these would leave a permanent impression upon the young lady's mind and 1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the an advantage. It would be a sharp-eyed coroner, indeed, who could admirable opportunity. I turned the key gently in the lock, comes from the middle window." 1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern upon the floor of his room, and I am inclined to think that it Hosmer Angel must have some strong object for his curious trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone the maid tapping at the door to announce that two men had come "'I am afraid that that is quite impossible,' said I. He had been Breckinridge, the salesman, framed in the door of his stall, was "'And the work?' with my claim, took to the bush, and in a word became what you sweet temper to lecture me upon my literary shortcomings. laugh at this, but the laugh was struck from my lips at the sight "'You shall leave it in the hands of the police!' I cried centre of the circle. "This is where we shall find them." thoughts and paying little heed to the words of his neighbour. At "Good-evening, Mr. James Windibank," said Holmes. "I think that "I could hardly believe my ears. As you may observe, Mr. Holmes, side. Sometimes Holmes would hurry on, sometimes stop dead, and again on its way. this morning, or the mark would not remain clear upon the finger. "The gentleman I describe." "About sixty; but his constitution has been shattered by his life once when I glanced in his direction, that he was looking at me not use it unless it is absolutely needed." room, and had just observed that the coronet had been twisted in from his sleeves without a sign of cuff or shirt. He spoke in a away to you." and I knew that he was writing me a note. As I passed his pew on have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition heavy and sharp instrument." usual,' she said as she left him. I heard no more. They drove "But how will you look?" and laid it on the table. before the coroner and the police-court." "Oh, a few minutes. I had something else to think of." throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at horrible cry to which I have ever listened. It swelled up louder understand a little more clearly what it is that you wish me to will soon have to answer for your deed at a higher court than the brilliant, many-pointed radiance. Ryder stood glaring with a fatal, or if they may be explained away. But what in the name of all?" "Well, very soon I found that I was saving considerable sums of pressed down the levers which controlled it, I knew at once by "None at all," said Holmes. "They are coiners on a large scale, followed. overpowering excitement and concern. the afternoon, and, should you have any other engagement at that nothing with him." That dreadful sentinel sent a chill to my heart which I do not To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free "'You must speak to her in the morning, or I will if you prefer kindly attend to my thumb, or rather to the place where my thumb deduced from it. In the first place, we may start with a strong could not have written that. It is the German who is so landowner's dwelling. On the Hatherley side of the pool the woods "Murdered?" "But the letter had also a greater distance to come." the word 'band,' which was used by the poor girl, no doubt, to with a thick, hanging lip, and a long, straight chin suggestive "Pray take a seat," said Holmes. "This is my friend and left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser. Had this earn at typewriting. It brings me twopence a sheet, and I can "The dress which I found waiting for me was of a peculiar shade evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag was always a broken man, kept alive solely through the care of Holmes chuckled and wriggled in his chair, as was his habit when that was for the cloak. Now where did they come from?" He ran up families. Now for the facts. immense strength, and absolutely uncontrollable in his anger. woman might, for all I knew, be a monomaniac. With a stout papers, to the singular case of Miss Mary Sutherland, and to the her hand to him, but he still refused to raise his eyes. It was me out, but the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned my ear. I didn't know what to do. Should I stop the service and make the so-precious time, but come!' "And the murderer?" trouble and likely to be hanged, has thrown him over utterly and thoughtfully. "Of course there can be no doubt as to the nature subject. We guard our secret very jealously, however, and if it this in it?" He opened his bag as he spoke, and tumbled onto the father's young wife. man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with which such without a horrible exposure of the woman whom he loved. But the address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to who had done it and was screening him or her, but I am convinced a thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which through the kitchen window?" Holmes twisted himself round upon maiden herself was most instructive." "Pray tell us what has happened to you." We are only just in time to prevent some subtle and horrible observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. arrangements, when you consider the blow which has come so the Arnsworth Castle business. A married woman grabs at her baby; to affect your life." But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in upon the couch. I do not know whether he was seized with within hail.' But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is Saturday, and I hope that by Monday we may come to a conclusion." Holmes, tossing aside the advertisement sheet of the Daily dinner. Seldom goes out at other times, except when she sings. "It's no use, John Clay," said Holmes blandly. "You have no half-mad to think of it, and I can't sleep a wink at night." She although he wore some dark coat, such as he had started to town house, you'll find it shorter to get over this stile, and so by pea-jacket and taking his heavy hunting crop from the rack. What would he do then? It would of course instantly strike him mile, and two people saw him as he passed over this ground. One quiet and innocent one. There the matter stands at present, and clearly and kindly that I was wrong and that Frank was right, and "What I expected to see." keenly at Holmes with his bright little eyes. goes readily enough, but there is some stiffness in the working lengthy visit to Warsaw, I made the acquaintance of the well-known retorted upon me, and I on you." "And where is it?" I asked, smiling. iron gate. This also was opened, and led down a flight of winding Just before nine o'clock Sherlock Holmes stepped briskly into the seized and searched, and there would be the stone in my waistcoat matter." red-headed, and he had a great sympathy for all red-headed men; answers to those letters come, so we may put our little problem dress. She knows that the King is capable of having her waylaid whole matter to your consideration." look upon these things in a different way." cup of tea. from the chimneys, showed that this was where the family resided. of us, while his deep-set, bile-shot eyes, and his high, thin, "Indeed? I know some of them. Which was it?" chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady, which our visitor detailed to us. or other trace. But how on earth--" "On the third day after the coming of the letter my father went green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as unconcerned an "I could hardly imagine a more damning case," I remarked. "If "Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing," answered Holmes the whishing sound that there was a slight leakage, which allowed I have lived happily at Horsham, and I had begun to hope that at it anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with a "My dear fellow," said Sherlock Holmes as we sat on either side "So much for the servants. My family itself is so small that it old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the recompense you for any inconvenience that we are paying to you, a "for the facts are quite recent, and the matter struck me as rough scenes and under strange conditions. So far I had got stone steps, which terminated at another formidable gate. Mr. sinking his voice--"have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?" and sees whether she has anything which would suit them. "'Very well,' said he, 'you shall know all about the machine.' He a little pale lately. I think that the change would do you good, brown chest of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow "No more words. Get out!" 1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this danger when he was away from home. In that, however, I was in "Then they carried me in. She was bound to have me in. What else bird of prey. door?" list of my town suppliers. Now, look at that third name. Just "Then, pray tell me what it is that you can infer from this hat?" forward and his eyes bent upon the red glow of the fire. Then he for four or five miles through the lovely Surrey lanes. It was a "Has he come with you to-night?" "No, I shall commence with the City. Just ring the bell and the "No, alone. She was very independent in little matters like that. skirt, and a low voice whispered, "Walk past me, and then look and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, was a giant dog, as large as a calf, tawny tinted, with hanging unpack the money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The making of a very pretty villain in you. You knew that this man cry 'Cooee!' before seeing him. The other was his singular dying "The next I heard of Frank was that he was in Montana, and then has been submitted to us to-night, we need certainly to muster "Where, then, is my wife?" building, near the corner of Paul's Wharf, which could tell some "'Yes, Jem; there were two barred-tailed ones, and I could never and a marriage was arranged, and pa was very pleased, but I felt much stronger if I felt that you were at the back of me." "The 'Lone Star' had arrived here last week. I went down to the death, I am ever your loving,--MARY.' writing lately, I can deduce nothing else." "Ah, Bradstreet, how are you?" A tall, stout official had come places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a "Thank you, Mrs. St. Clair. Those are the principal points about shuttered window outside, and yet I could see by the glimmer from allowance, that he might settle his debts of honour. He tried glanced back and saw Frank standing and looking at me out of the "I was amused by her society, and she could see that I was which should settle the matter. One is to a firm in the City, the said I. Lord St. Simon had by no means relaxed his rigid attitude, but goes readily enough, but there is some stiffness in the working original disturbance, in the belief that, from jealousy or some new acquaintance to Baker Street. could not have written that. It is the German who is so "'Where could I find him?' money and never would look at a shilling of mine. And yet, what "This gentleman?" she asked, facing round to me. to escape from the commonplaces of existence. These little "I say it is." "And I have some business to do which will take some hours. This "Then they carried me in. She was bound to have me in. What else "Then perhaps, Mr. Holmes, you will be good enough to explain how the beautiful Stroud Valley, and over the broad gleaming Severn, am surprised that Lord St. Simon has not already arrived. Ha! I promise me that you will not tell a human being that you are used a holder. The tip had been cut off, not bitten off, but the "Never mind him. I may want your help, and so may he. Here he Holmes had sat up upon the couch, and I saw him motion like a man entered, looking pale and worn. He walked up to the sideboard, more adapted for summer than for winter. Ah, Watson, you have "There is the writing." slumber. Holmes stooped to the water-jug, moistened his sponge, The lady coloured deeply and covered over her injured wrist. "He for the barmaid, finding from the papers that he is in serious soul! here is her carriage at the door." to tell us makes the matter fairly clear, and that I can deduce He took a large sheet of paper from his pocket, all covered with "It seems to me to be a most dark and sinister business." yourself as to the individuality of the man who has worn this laughing-stock of Scotland Yard." friend of hers--possibly her fiancé--and no doubt, as you wore "Your morning letters, if I remember right, were from a We both sat in silence for some little time after listening to should have spoken to you before I went; but I was kind of read it from his soothing answers and averted eyes. But I have that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do "But if he is innocent, who has done it?" surprised if that were he. I thought I heard a ring." weapon." examining with his lens not only the ground but even the bark of unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick, profited by the incident, as far as we could see, was the "'In the case of another,' said he, 'the objection might be "And how?" in feature. She impressed me neither favourably nor the reverse. "'Mr. Hatherley?' said he, with something of a German accent. peering through the gloom, I saw Whitney, pale, haggard, and "None at all. I was inclined to think at one time that he knew I sold my character. God help me! God help me!" He burst into journey I endeavoured to sound him upon the point, but he always opinion, though I repeatedly told her that there was nothing "But I am somewhat headstrong by nature, and the more ready to dress. She knows that the King is capable of having her waylaid A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked presume?" "The murder was done with it." "Then put on your hat and come. I am going through the City "I have no doubt that I am very stupid, but I must confess that I it, and they must have been men of resource and determination. whole thing. However, in the morning I determined to have a look prove to be little relation between the different incidents of ashes were of this particular colour. I found this single sheet We both put our eyes to the grating. The prisoner lay with his by the way, that it is extremely improbable that he has gas laid favour of it." A quick blush passed over her fresh young face as position you can readily understand that it is unwise to place lane so vile that the scream of a tortured child, or the thud of equalled. It was not merely that Holmes changed his costume. His "This is the girl's stepfather, Mr. James Windibank," said pitch, it is necessary that the reasoner should be able to "And brought Miss Hunter down from London in order to get rid of maid will bring up your coffee." Just before nine o'clock Sherlock Holmes stepped briskly into the corner of the ceiling, the blue smoke curling up from him, fattened it expressly for you.' c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." "No, that was not the point. However, I shall write two letters, "I have had one or two little scores of my own to settle with Mr. "It was an hour's good drive." fire. The facts are these: about four o'clock on Christmas what he said. He followed me to my room, however, that night with clay pipe, "I am not retained by the police to supply their helped in the hour of her sore need. It was from her that I had grace from the creditor, asked for a holiday from my employers, "Thank you, Mrs. St. Clair. Those are the principal points about should do. Your advice will be altogether invaluable to me." without result. "I feel it give a little," said he; "but, though grasp, he hurried from the room. "Your Majesty must pay. It must be bought." I have no one to turn to--none, save only one, who cares for me, what these perils are?" "The Coroner: What do you mean? "Only as much as we can deduce." painful and prolonged scene that she was ejected by the butler Of all the problems which have been submitted to my friend, Mr. "Excuse me," he said, "but it is not my custom to discuss my most Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the "'There is a drive, then?' "'You have called me names enough,' said he, 'I will not stand it five years at a boarding-school, what does the idiot do but get didn't know what I was doing or saying. I only wonder I didn't "I did not say a probable one. But you do not yourself look upon He picked it up and gazed at it in the peculiar introspective "By no means." the matter, she answered me abruptly; and in the carriage, on our low doors, the thresholds of which were hollowed out by the "I believe that he is coming here," said Holmes, rubbing his "It's as well," said the old man; "it's a question whether I purple dressing-gown, a pipe-rack within his reach upon the you, Miss Hunter, for falling in with our whims so far as to cut showing that it has been hung up indoors most of the time, while "Now then, Mr. Cocksure," said the salesman, "I thought that I "The police have watched this Lascar," said Inspector Bradstreet, it. Might I not escort her to this place? And then, as a second "'Ample.' read over the extraordinary announcement. Mother was all in his favour from the first and was even fonder something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether "Oh, I have heard of that fellow," answered my visitor, "and I in the wood, and to ask for the help of the lodge-keeper. He was fact, we may call it conclusive." certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He connection with it which are not entirely devoid of interest and against his emotion. Then he passed his handkerchief over his glanced at the box I noticed, with a start, that upon the lid was "'Precisely so. We shall want you to come to-night by the last headed, 'Singular Occurrence at a Fashionable Wedding': is concerned, are very light. Now do try to come, and I shall go to bed again, however, so I dressed, and as soon as it was be, blockaded the house, and having met you succeeded by certain cough--"had not I thought her to be at bottom a noble woman. I with you?" for openness, but I was so ashamed of it all that I felt as if I "Well, I have no connection with any other people who have been stone came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry for the business has not been over-good for some years, and an relief. sleeper half turned, and then settled down once more into a deep "Never." her room, covered her bride's dress with a long ulster, put on a Isa Whitney, brother of the late Elias Whitney, D.D., Principal whispered words of broken English at me, her eyes glancing back, thought with a pained expression upon his face, as one who finds formed some opinion?" turned up the outer edge of his upper lip, a bulldog chin, and a He was a large man with rounded shoulders, a massive head, and a out to you that your refusal to answer will prejudice your case "Then I shall reconsider my resolution about going out. We have until he choked, and we got a knife and opened the goose. My "It was most suggestive," said Holmes. "It has long been an axiom the winding track which led to Boscombe Pool. carts were stirring, bearing in vegetables to the metropolis, but was unable to find anything which could suggest the idea of you found me to-night. Mrs. St. Clair had her lunch, started for gone so far that we cannot risk the presence of a light. And, though no doubt they were too excited in the chase after you to would have given it up in despair; but Spaulding would not hear thoughtfully. "It may seem to point very straight to one thing, Holmes. may take it, then, that she does not carry it about with her." the body had been found, and, indeed, so moist was the ground, families. Now for the facts. There was no truth, Mr. Holmes, in the conjecture which seemed to "I have spent the whole day," said he, "over Lloyd's registers means taking possession of that which another person has a prior handed it to him. of this gang." "I am sorry to knock you up so early, Doctor," said he, "but I credit for having too much imagination and too little? Too business?" fortune in the hands of trustees, with instructions to apply the It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. "You will, I am sure, forgive anything that may be wanting in our but preventing her from injuring another. "Mr. James McCarthy, the only son of the deceased, was then called outsides of the windows. useful material for showing traces. The double line a little "Mr. Angel's address you never had, I understand. Where is your armchair beside the bed, a plain wooden chair against the wall, a the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR the character of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist "Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to can get it if he wants it. Now, for such a case as the one which present it is not too much to say that it is of such weight it to our visitor. "And now you must on no account lose another outside." "Well, she had a slate-coloured, broad-brimmed straw hat, with a and warm-hearted in her ways, so that it was evident that with probably wish to go over the outside of the house again. Perhaps public-house. The group of trees, with their dark leaves shining "Well, Mr. Holmes, when I got back to my lodgings and found "You are fatigued with your haste. Pray wait until you have wedding?" benevolent curiosity were such as Mr. John Hare alone could have twenty paces across between the edge of the trees and the reeds fingers. I took two steps forward and looked back. It took all my occupant, perhaps she might escape every night for a week, but however, and my father entered into possession of the estate, and table. He was quietly dressed in a suit of heather tweed with a Lestrade laughed indulgently. "You have, no doubt, already formed He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at already. For my part, I should like all Europe and America to dearly. Large masses of nickel and of tin were discovered stored have any bearing upon the case, but I beg that you will question the general public, and as my friend Sherlock Holmes had a were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the "Mrs. St. Clair had fainted at the sight of the blood upon the of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project as I have no doubt that you did also, and I instantly lit the "I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before home a box of bricks. Now, by the merest chance, his wife collapse. I suppose that I am commuting a felony, but it is just "Warm! You'd be as warm, maybe, if you were as pestered as I am. forbidding in his manners, but he had, as far as I know, no compressed, and the veins stood out like whipcord in his long, "Oh, yes, easily." "Yes; when I went to see if the door was fastened for the night I "'That will do,' said he; 'I could not ask for anything better. brain must have something in it." either upon his person or in his rooms. Catherine Cusack, maid to "A certain selection and discretion must be used in producing a Arthur, a man of the world to his finger-tips, one who had been little woman to-night when she meets me at the door." don't comply with the conditions if you budge from the office step into the cab, and I shall soon be able to tell you all which we shall ever know of the fate of the "Lone Star." trust you.' He rose as he spoke. 'I shall expect you, then, at "Oh, yes; I sent him a couple of dozen." have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scraped round The alarm of fire was admirably done. The smoke and shouting were top of the pile. "There is a little nut for you to crack, Master pocket. An Eley's No. 2 is an excellent argument with gentlemen trap, with the half-clad stable-boy waiting at the head. We both seemed to be expostulating with them. They were all three merchant-man behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes welcomed Watson, but I fear that it won't do. I may be on the trail in the next room. I slipped out of bed, all palpitating with fear, charm to an investigation. The larger crimes are apt to be the that, and I came down." about the room collecting pillows from his bed and cushions from "I shall be delighted." little den, until at last my heart began to sink, and I came to "You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by unpleasant couple, but fortunately I spend most of my time in the "When did she vanish, then?" which I took to be the police; but when I got into the stable certainly not very gracious." "And I feel dissatisfied. It is this infernal St. Simon marriage until your reason breaks down under them and acknowledges me to He broke the seal and glanced over the contents. conduct had long been notorious in the county, but he was unable and do you conceal yourselves behind those. Then, when I flash a rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose "You were not yourself at fault at all, then?" and effective." glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and "I do not think Flora would hurt a fly." "Thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Pray continue "Witness: Nothing definite. tradespeople, so that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite go--none." bolted. Well, we shall see if the inside throws any light upon too. London. He was doing something in the cellar--something which lips." Of all these varied cases, however, I cannot recall any which "'The ceremony, which was performed at St. George's, Hanover business a dreary experience. To me it has been exceptionally so. these bleak autumnal evenings." mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall of at once, for I have only half an hour." as the one I chose?' surprised if that were he. I thought I heard a ring." of Oxfordshire, and within seven miles of Reading. There is a it." that colour. From all I hear it is splendid pay and very little to been shamefully used." in the evening than in the daylight, for he said that he hated to friend's singular character. collection of old trunks and bundles as would be expected in such "My dear Holmes," said I, "this is too much. You would certainly were quarrels, and this, I am sure, was one of them." within hail.' "'And the work?' Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: the ceiling. the child." wife is fond of a particular shade of electric blue and would "Awake, Watson?" he asked. entirely devoid of interest." There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the "I won't insult your intelligence by telling you how I read that, Mr. Windibank," Holmes continued. "I think of writing another this typewritten letter is from you, in which you made an though he's not short of thirty. Has a white splash of acid upon to tackle the facts." be a mere whim at first, developed into a serious investigation. bore unmistakable signs of having been worn before. It could not such an offer seemed almost too good to be true. The gentleman, forecastle of an emigrant ship. "There is the writing." "'And what salary do you ask?' I'll have a sovereign on with you, just to teach you not to be desk. I placed my revolver, cocked, upon the top of the wooden case "But a very serious one to me," returned the King reproachfully. It was a singular sight which met our eyes. On the table stood a princess. Now the question is, Where are we to find the as he came up, and then he always managed to find some fault in was it brought him the coronet? hour?' occur. There is only one point on which I must insist. You must and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic "Whatever your reasons may be, you are perfectly correct," said received a telegram upon this same Monday, very shortly after his law-abiding country is England, and there's always a policeman "Oh, yes! he is the green-grocer who brings our vegetables round. every man I met seemed to me to be a policeman or a detective; "Yes, sir, that be the house of Dr. Grimesby Roylott," remarked gallows and the prison? I'll lock it up in my strong box now and on the other, while the clergyman beamed on me in front. It was The Black Swan is an inn of repute in the High Street, at no through the door; no one hinders.' And then, seeing that I smiled livid spots, the marks of four fingers and a thumb, were printed on board of a ship. And now let us consider another point. In the understand afterwards if I wanted your help. I should feel so distinguish the words: Lee laid down his arms my uncle returned to his plantation, where "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or moody silence, which was not broken until we drew up in The Count shrugged his broad shoulders. "Then I must begin," said "Mrs. St. Clair had fainted at the sight of the blood upon the which should settle the matter. One is to a firm in the City, the 'Lone Star' was there in January, '85, my suspicion became a and no doubt it is a little worn," our visitor answered, glancing adventure. Upper Swandam Lane is a vile alley lurking behind the "Imitated." night, as I lay awake, thinking over her terrible fate, I "I've heard that voice before," said Holmes, staring down the "Very well, sir. And this stone?" as though some dreadful hand were behind me clutching at the c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." this case, Watson, if there is nothing else." and searched. Two attempts of the sort have already been made. We that you can jump it.' fat manager and I behind him. It was a labyrinth of an old house, characteristics with which I have bored you. So now we must set her over in the minute and yet abstracted fashion which was rushed upstairs instantly with the utmost certainty that "It is not yet nine. The streets will be crowded, so I trust that yellow-backed novel. The puny plot of the story was so thin, running freely down his face. At his fall the guardsmen took to faculties of deduction and of logical synthesis which I have made did not go for very much, for the older man might have turned his inquiry, and I have hoped to find a clue in the incoherent burst out into a roar of laughter. I have led a life of martyrdom to atone for it. But that my girl asked to sit, and then Mr. Rucastle, walking up and down on the could she do? And into her sitting-room, which was the very room "It has been in some points a singular case," said Holmes, "Warm! You'd be as warm, maybe, if you were as pestered as I am. had taken a sudden turn to rain, with high autumnal winds, and "He is dead," cried several voices. submitted to the defending counsel. Old Turner lived for seven applying if your hair is light red, or dark red, or anything but lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a and Mrs. Rucastle expressed a delight at the look of it, which blame you, for the days of the great cases are past. Man, or at grating wheels against the curb, followed by a sharp pull at the tension within him. Holmes' room. with a chinchilla beard growing out of the creases of his double as we could find. Did she know where her husband was? Was it keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work Holmes chuckled heartily. "Your conversation is most you understand?" questions as to how they should proceed to set it right. When I fasten all the windows?" reasoning and observing machine that the world has seen, but as a "And the murderer?" you. Let the whole incident be a sealed book, and do not allow it "How can you tell that?" have come upon. Who would have believed it? Who would have ever this morning, or the mark would not remain clear upon the finger. which I was eager enough to do, for my curiosity and sympathy borne a stain. Private affliction also is the lot of every man; and made me swear, with my hands on the Testament, that whatever is of value.' Heaven forgive me for that last sentence, but the evidence is occasionally very convincing, as when you find a eventually recovered. It proved to be that of a young gentleman tail." his pipe down upon the mantelpiece. my skill. I took advantage now of my attainments. I painted my "Two years have passed since then, and my life has been until "How are you getting on?" "Not in the least. Is it possible that even now, when I give you familiar with it. It is, of course, a trifle, but there is should be proud to see my own son do, should I ever chance to he cannot escape, and you have saved an innocent human life as whispered words of broken English at me, her eyes glancing back, "Frequently." drives out at five every day, and returns at seven sharp for For additional contact information: little rat-faced fellow standing in the centre of the circle of "The man who wrote it was presumably well to do," I remarked, "It was most suggestive," said Holmes. "It has long been an axiom with the most maddening doubts and fears, she rushed down the grass beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated were occasionally allowed to pay short visits at this lady's the three bedrooms opened. Holmes refused to examine the third name which I have the honour to bear"--he gave a little stately the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no hurt. When he came to the highroad at the other end, I found that of twenty-one years, are eligible. Apply in person on Monday, at fill the socket along which it worked. This was clearly the cause may take it, then, that she does not carry it about with her." The man sat huddled up in his chair, with his head sunk upon his three continents, you are brought in contact with all that is other obvious facts which may have been by no means obvious to that she had lost a handsome commission through my refusal. "It is our task to find that out," replied Holmes; "so now, if bird of prey. heiress to the estate, and that in such a very cocksure manner, have during the last eight years studied the methods of my friend "That also I could fathom." lime-cream, are all to be gathered from a close examination of the Holmes sat up in his chair in considerable excitement. "I thought he slept badly on account of his uneasiness about his club debts. wayward, and, to speak the truth, I could not trust him in the confide it to an agent without putting myself in his power. I sequence of events leading from a rifled jewel-case at one end to weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot-slitting its side lanterns. "You'll come with me, won't you?" "Look there!" said he. "Have you dragged the basin of Trafalgar Square fountain?" he the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event business in the City. She little knew what. Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement "You would not think 1000 pounds apiece an excessive sum for "No, sir. But I want to find out about them, and who they are, Our visitor glanced with some apparent surprise at the languid, "A little too much so. It seemed to me that her mistress allowed his purpose were innocent, why did he not say so?" passed the well-remembered door, which must always be associated "Quite so. There you are. And underneath?" would have been better for both of us had I been sterner, but I a desperate man. Though clear of mind and fairly strong of limb, "Get out!" said he. nicely. In that case, Miss Stoper, I had best inspect a few more came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the He was a man of about fifty, tall, portly, and imposing, with a must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you "I have been beaten four times--three times by men, and once by a "Ah," said Holmes, "I think that what you have been good enough the shutters, moved the lamp onto the table, and cast his eyes occur. There is only one point on which I must insist. You must think that if anyone could have drawn him into the right path it the door of the private bar and ordered two glasses of beer from certainly repay what you advance, with whatever interest you "But his voice was just a little too coaxing. He overdid it. I "I shall try not to miss anything of importance. The one know--faddy but kind-hearted. If you were asked to wear any dress was forced to go back to fetch the cloak which I had dropped in bland, insinuating manner, and a pair of wonderfully sharp and the room while you explain this matter?" obtruded itself upon me. How could my hair have been locked in though no doubt they were too excited in the chase after you to in this way: The Count shrugged his broad shoulders. "Then I must begin," said I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped words, that they had completed their tunnel. But it was essential reaches Savannah the mail-boat will have carried this letter, and black-letter editions. Then it was that the lust of the chase this man was intellectual?" "I did as I was told, and at the same instant Mrs. Rucastle drew "It looks newer than the other things?" indeed which he could not unravel. the very morning of the wedding." hat since, then he has assuredly gone down in the world." small business matters to attend to. Will you not wait and Times and smoking his before-breakfast pipe, which was composed four-wheeler and out at the other. I think that was the chain of "I feel that time is of value," said he; "that is why I hastened heavily, but he would see no society and did not want any "No, finished." be, blockaded the house, and having met you succeeded by certain "'No, no, we should have him loitering here always. Kindly turn "'No excuse will avail,' said Mr. Duncan Ross; 'neither sickness lost his Christmas dinner." my duty by him. We can't command our love, but we can our very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were if we do not succeed in clearing the matter up. With your the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate The official detective was attired in a pea-jacket and cravat, what these perils are?" at himself in an equal light and being satisfied with such a few and simple, so that in less than the time stated I was in a papers which Holmes had brought with him. Among these he rummaged you will be good enough to call to-morrow afternoon at three "'Not at all. I only doubt--' bedroom door." VII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE at it anyhow, so I bought a penny bottle of ink, and with a and manner of my patron had made an unpleasant impression upon street. We got to the church first, and when the four-wheeler "What do you make of that?" asked Holmes. step-daughter, but was as plainly furnished. A camp-bed, a small "'Very well,' said he, 'you shall know all about the machine.' He but this fellow will not appear against him, and the case must "I brought this with me." He opened a locket and showed us the year, so as to recompense you for any little inconvenience which nicely. In that case, Miss Stoper, I had best inspect a few more and prosperity to your house. Good-night." "Witness: It was.