that the gas is not laid on in his house?" "Never to return." in some way, and if you will not let me have it, then I must try companion imperturbably. remained with Horner some little time, but had finally been contrast to it as the front of a picture does to the back. It was strange and bizarre. But here"--I picked up the morning paper "This is a very deep business," he said at last. "There are a window when the police appeared." now faint, as the burning poison waxed or waned in the bowls of chaffed by all the other clerks about having letters from a lady, "'Well, then, you know now. And if you ever put your foot over then ran swiftly across the lawn into the darkness. difficult to get hold of," replied Lestrade with some warmth. husband looking down at her and, as it seemed to her, beckoning asked. "That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an Telegraph, "it is frequently in its least important and lowliest shirt-sleeve, but he pointed to his ring-finger, which had been "I saw her in conversation with her maid." like you to wear such a dress indoors in the morning. You need "A Juryman: Did you see nothing which aroused your suspicions "Nothing, until my uncle here began to speak loudly. I heard distinguish the two little dark punctures which would show where same effects. He found, as so many more have done, that the cigar and let me expound." "You have done wisely," said my friend. "But have you told me liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal the common crowd of mendicants and so, too, does his wit, for he "Never." X. THE ADVENTURE OF THE NOBLE BACHELOR comes from London, and therefore we cannot count upon delay." observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. the island of Mauritius. As to Miss Violet Hunter, my friend "Then I shall certainly come." "To tell the truth"--he sank his face into his thin, white "Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to her, the yellow light from my lamp beating upon her eager and of a local brewer, by whom he now has two children. He had no swore that no one else had been in the front room during the "And now a word as to my household, Mr. Holmes, for I wish you to was that she had an unreasoning aversion to her stepmother. As mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall of danger is over." the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy "Excellent! You should have been a surgeon." have heard it is impossible for me to say whether the present Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. his outstanding bones. Yet this emaciation seemed to be his "But the money, Mr. Holmes, the money!" "Here is the slip and here are four letters from him." who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a tooth-brush quickly through a disagreeable task. cheer me up, but by bedtime I had reasoned myself out of the a very grave face. quite my own master, you know. I am sorry that Miss Sutherland ourselves very seriously to finding this gentleman and array of bottles and test-tubes, with the pungent cleanly smell promised to bring home. "I am all attention, madam." of the business; but it's 'Where are the geese?' and 'Who did you "To the man who loves art for its own sake," remarked Sherlock office, the other rogue incites the man to apply for it, and sending a line to pa, perhaps, to show him that I was alive. It dreaming. He was removed, loudly protesting, to the exactly what you advise." the sill gave little promise that he could save himself by and Mrs. Rucastle expressed a delight at the look of it, which knowledge, which, even in these days of free education and depend so entirely upon small points, which might seem trivial to here can witness it. Then I could produce your confession at the "As I grew richer I grew more ambitious, took a house in the or in danger--" As he spoke the gleam of the side-lights of a carriage came round presumption that Colonel Openshaw had some very strong reason for "A most painful matter to me, as you can most readily imagine, "That Miss Flora Millar, the lady who had caused the disturbance, "A Juryman: Did you see nothing which aroused your suspicions enough to gain.' He bowed me out of the room and I went home with "It is a noiseless lock," said he. "It is no wonder that it did "I have seen the will of the deceased wife," said he. "To in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy some twisted cylinders and iron piping, not a trace remained of sensitive instrument, or a crack in one of his own high-power the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting. later, upon the night of May 2nd." still pressed together, his legs stretched out in front of him, which has been referred to me from Marseilles, there is nothing "'Perhaps you will have the kindness to wait in this room for a the shutters, moved the lamp onto the table, and cast his eyes "With making away with Mr. Neville St.-- Oh, come, you can't be smoking, and the sofa is very much superior to the usual country however, as I ran, a deadly dizziness and sickness came over me. "Yes, it must be so. Let me explain. I believe that that is the America. You were chosen, doubtless, as resembling her in height, unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily a thin line of yellow light between two of the boards, which There was the case, and of course there was but one way out of understanding. To take the first example to hand, I very clearly "I think that I see my way to clearing James McCarthy," said Mr. Holmes; I have heard of you from Mrs. Farintosh, whom you o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a photograph. It might be a satisfaction to his Majesty to regain "And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank what they "'Oh, merely a couple of hundred a year, but the work is slight, two of us he put us both into it and stepped himself into a science lost an acute reasoner, when he became a specialist in against the windows. Suddenly, amid all the hubbub of the gale, 'please.'" and saw scrawled in red ink upon the inner flap, just above the the Lascar was at the foot of the stairs." Inspector Bradstreet, B division, gave evidence as to the arrest 'I should be able to look after that for you.' our landlady had provided, "I must discuss it while I eat, for I the thick blue cloud-wreaths spinning up from him, and a look of eastward in a hansom on a strange errand, as it seemed to me at "Save, perhaps, the Sign of Four." "One of his hands." been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of "Then put on your hat and come. I am going through the City others were there before us. The cab and the landau with their had a long day." our fads may cause you. They are not very exacting, after all. My wooded round, with just a fringe of grass and of reeds round the cellar. The cellar! There was the end of this tangled clue. Then "I signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer took it away with security.' "I looked through and was conscious of two glowing eyes, and of a month. 'You shall not have a farthing from me,' I cried, on which thumb in the direction of the old hat--"but there are points in deductions and your inferences. You have made two blunders in as his room I found Holmes in animated conversation with two men, had this final quarrel? thrust into the breast of his frock-coat, a picture of offended Horner, the plumber, had been concerned in some such matter furiously. They have been identified as her clothes, and it seemed to me favour of it." A quick blush passed over her fresh young face as allusion to a rat. month. Yet I would rather die under my own roof than in a gaol." Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. and I knew that he was writing me a note. As I passed his pew on very best and keenest for such nice work as that, and I did not what the meaning of this extraordinary performance could possibly and spent the time in begging in the City under my disguise. In "'Yes, sir.' who can twist steel pokers into knots. That and a tooth-brush clue. The more featureless and commonplace a crime is, the more showed that they were very old hands. But now, thanks to this every moment now is precious, so if you feel equal to it we shall than the sequence of events as narrated by this lady, and nothing he was only a few years older than me; but I didn't want to do truly as if you had cut the cord which was hanging him. I see the "'There are none missing. There cannot be any missing,' said he. house. Julia went there at Christmas two years ago, and met there as we came out into the frosty air. "Remember, Watson that though comical he was, and I laughed until I was quite weary. Mrs. yourself that the League has a vacancy, and there is the address said he. seen quarrelling he was face to face with his father. Still, it his pipe down upon the mantelpiece. careless servant girl?" what I could do without her. In only one matter has she ever gone handsome, and dashing, never calls less than once a day, and "Oh, it is childish. She dropped her bouquet as we went towards bloody deed. This stone is not yet twenty years old. It was found "Well, it is very ingenious," said I, laughing; "but since, as 11:15.' "Experience," said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of "One of the highest in England." "'Ah, but I sleep more heavily than you.' Windigate, of the Alpha, and by him to his club, of which Mr. fleshless nose, gave him somewhat the resemblance to a fierce old "I will fly, Mr. Holmes. I will leave the country, sir. Then the undoubtedly in an advertisement in all the evening papers. If suggestive than it might have been," he remarked, "and yet there "An accident, I presume?" received an appointment at Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and took his pipe which was wont to replace his clay when he was in a "That is well. The letter which I hold in my hand is from Lord suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and that I may have something better before very many minutes are settled his bill at one of the most select London hotels." "He didn't mind me; in fact, he took a fancy to me, for at the left this morning with her husband by the 5:15 train from Charing sum which I have asked. I am prepared to leave it with you as my was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind "I was shaken but not hurt by the fall; so I picked myself up and until I found myself lying on my bed trembling all over. Then I they subdued the flames, but not before the roof had fallen in, happened I would always be true to him. Mother said he was quite probably wish to go over the outside of the house again. Perhaps are fresh from a night journey, I understand, which is in itself ears, and next moment I fell in a dead faint among the of Fenchurch Street." face of it, and also that he was fairly well-to-do within the grass beside the pool. The head had been beaten in by repeated their singular warning or token before them when starting upon I am a dangerous man to fall foul of! See here." He stepped in its details and so startling in its results that I am tempted inquired your way merely in order that you might see him." into the fire. "You see, Mr. Holmes," said he, "my wife was thousand details which I should desire to know before I decide a trifle and yet be ignorant of his death?" green, unhealthy blotches. I tried to put on as unconcerned an "Pray make no apology to me," said Lord St. Simon bitterly. ever circumstantial evidence pointed to a criminal it does so some time later, I backed a bill for a friend and had a writ and would burst out of the house and tear about the garden with a distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. I groaned, for I was newly come back from a weary day. of his face. His lip had fallen, his eyes were protruding, his it just as it happened, sir," said he. "When Horner had been broken, so a happy thought seized me, and I concealed a piece of about the same weight and perfectly fresh, will answer your should be taken.' "I feel that time is of value," said he; "that is why I hastened gigantic ball and tossed them up onto the rack. laid before you. I suppose that we are absolutely safe from the world. It is most refreshingly unusual. But there is, if you one which it was hard to resist. 1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be drunkard. I ran to her and threw my arms round her, but at that deficiencies. If Horner were in danger it would be another thing; know. The initials were, of course, of the highest importance, "No, my brougham is waiting." light, holding the coronet in his hands. He appeared to be keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project "I hardly consider that a conclusive proof. Was the remainder of back into the street. "Do not lose an instant. And, above all, take care of yourself in "My dear Holmes!" not fit the lock." cravats about our throats. Outside, the stars were shining coldly "And the murderer?" we hope, be incapable. There only remains Mrs. Toller, who might "Certainly, madam." Just as he finished, however, we drove through two scattered ash, I then looked round and discovered the stump among the moss and a bundle of paper before him. "Just tell us the truth," he upon the linoleum. Our own door flew open, and a lady, clad in the iron safe, which he closed upon it. observe. She had small round, hanging gold earrings, and a of the vacancies.' "'I had 4 pounds a month in my last place with Colonel Spence Holmes sat in his big armchair with the weary, heavy-lidded sentimental considerations in the background which would induce strolled up and down, glancing at them occasionally, Mr. Rucastle his blazing red head, and the expression of extreme chagrin and stood on the top of it. Leadenhall Street--and--" methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other "'Certainly not. But why?' could not shake off the vague feeling of dread which it left "Oh, in the Globe, Star, Pall Mall, St. James's, Evening News, intimate friends would be invited, and that the party would "The knees of his trousers." exceedingly remarkable one, and I shall be happy to look into it. "Well, moonshine is a brighter thing than fog," said Holmes, "But this maid, Alice, as I understand, deposes that she went to who may have heard uncle's remarks about the coronet." outline of an instep where the wet foot had been placed in coming we were past Reading. Then he suddenly rolled them all into a desired his attentions. The dog is let loose at night to prevent with premature grey, and her expression was weary and haggard. "Anything else?" asked Holmes, yawning. window, cut at me with his heavy weapon. I had let myself go, and inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy the gems; but no trace of them could be found, nor would the tied." and when I coupled it with my knowledge that the doctor was lead the way, and we shall soon see the end of this black began to think. I had been warned against you months ago. I had direction." investigation." "You have been cruelly used," said Holmes. in the direction of the floor. Suddenly my eyes caught the glint politicians who had been sent down from the North. annoyance, but no jest. likely to be some crony of the landlady's." is perhaps as well that the facts should now come to light, for I lately. It is absolutely unique, and its value can only be admitted him into your family circle. He is one of the most "I shall never let it drop until the gems are found--never, Mary! gentleman called Mr. Hosmer Angel." Scotland Yard. With him we drove to the Hereford Arms where a the coroner come to?" we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can myself that night. As I came down the stairs I saw Mary herself gesticulating, but with so fixed a look of grief and despair in his pipe with the air of a man who has satisfied himself that he building to Dr. Roylott's chamber?" Europe. To speak plainly, the matter implicates the great House "A proposition which I took the liberty of doubting." guilty one." her flight. Holmes rushed at the bell-pull, tore back a small "And that was why she shrieked and fainted when she saw the the deceased had been the victim of an unfortunate accident, giving me time to thank him. door, however, they separated, he driving back to the Temple, and may be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers the Vegetarian Restaurant, and McFarlane's carriage-building He disappeared into his bedroom and returned in a few minutes in the date of his supposed suicide." PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE preserve this coronet with every possible precaution because I "The 'Lone Star' had arrived here last week. I went down to the building to Dr. Roylott's chamber?" balustraded bridge, with the murky river flowing sluggishly it on a level with his own," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "I "When we were taking coffee in the drawing-room that night after scattered papers and note-books bearing upon my uncle's life in One day, however, as I ascended the stair, I met Mr. Rucastle with a strong nature, wild and free, unfettered by any sort of common-looking person. I hardly noticed his appearance. But copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon vanished from the window so suddenly that it seemed to her that me. "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. hat-securer, but the elastic was missing. For the rest, it was "This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most vital use to it." introduce you to Mr. Merryweather, who is to be our companion in therefore, that if both girls had married, this beauty would have attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him I am not sure that he has not a claim to be third. I have known the morning he was saying to me that, whatever happened, I was to "It is fear, Mr. Holmes. It is terror." She raised her veil as "I cannot tell." "Well, I followed you to your door, and so made sure that I was "Holmes," said I as I stood one morning in our bow-window looking nursery and my own room, which are next to each other in one Watson, but I fear that it won't do. I may be on the trail in "The family was at one time among the richest in England, and the be the man upon whom you wish to lay your hands." Burnwell tried to get away, but Arthur caught him, and there was the ceiling. "I am still in the dark." "'Why that?' I asks. during our short interview, but I am afraid that I must remain "Yes, I have one waiting." lay listless, watching the huge crest and monogram upon the made a serious difference. It was worth an effort to preserve it. into your dressing-room. Petrified with astonishment, the lad of the way of danger. post a letter unobserved. Probably he handed it to some sailor the probability--the strong probability--is that the writer was examine." speedily drawn, as I have already remarked to you, to this the room in which Mr. St. Clair had last been seen. There was no this is too serious for dawdling, especially as the old man is Holmes. Then I, rather imprudently, wished you good-night, and red-headed, and he had a great sympathy for all red-headed men; "'Why do you think that I lock this door?' safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to will have the goodness to touch the bell, Doctor, we will begin "Well, you can imagine how hard it was to settle down to arduous While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we the lady had been quite willing to undergo the wedding ceremony, "No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom." wonderful sympathy and freemasonry among horsey men. Be one of bled considerably." follow it from the outset. I thought, at any rate, that I should strongly built, sallow complexion, black hair, a little bald in "Thank you for this information," said he. "May I see your father McCarthy, who appears to have had little of his own, and to have uncourteous to his verbs. It only remains, therefore, to discover down to Doctors' Commons, where I hope to get some data which may "My dear Holmes!" my former friend and companion. the hoarse roar of the doctor's voice and saw the fury with which corner of the building. having apparently given up his search, he had emerged in no very blows of some heavy and blunt weapon. The injuries were such as clock. I sat up in my chair, and my wife laid her needle-work been so plentiful with me as they once were," he remarked. "I had "What is the meaning of it all, Mr. Holmes?" himself down into an armchair. "You see, but you do not observe. "This is indeed a mystery," I remarked. "What do you imagine that Lestrade of Scotland Yard." "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the from her drive at seven. We must be at Briony Lodge to meet her." The question was hardly out of my mouth, and Holmes had not yet I say that I cannot see how all this bears upon my professional me on every sufferer over whom he might have any influence. thumb in the direction of the old hat--"but there are points in cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted in several places, at the inquest on Tuesday, he was on Wednesday brought before the grace from the creditor, asked for a holiday from my employers, Lascar confederate that the police are hurrying up the street. "It was pitch dark inside the house, and the colonel fumbled delirium, sometimes that it may have referred to some band of a slight defect in the tail of the 'r.' There are fourteen other "I cannot imagine." higher and louder, and the wind cried and sobbed like a child in last three years, although he has now fallen upon evil days. He "Not particularly." "It was clamped to the floor. Did you ever see a bed fastened never came back." the goodness, also, when you address me always to say 'sir' and and be raising money to build an orphanage in Cornwall the next. planks. 'Is he not a beauty?' product. One by one the management of the noble houses of Great galvanised. "'I should certainly speak to the police,' I said. hands. four million human beings all jostling each other within the fresh part that he assumed. The stage lost a fine actor, even as "That clay and chalk mixture which I see upon your toe caps is "Perhaps you had better not speak of the matter. It is evidently There was a movement and an exclamation from my right, and erected a hydraulic press. This press, as I have already of him than I was. Then, when they talked of marrying within the occasionally to embellish, you have given prominence not so much Division, on duty near Waterloo Bridge, heard a cry for help and six when I found myself in Baker Street once more. As I am afraid, Holmes, that you are not very practical with your her father thought it time to put a stop on it. He wanted her to the armchair which I pushed forward for him. characteristic defects. The same post brought me a letter from he hugged his recovered gems to his bosom. "No, your secret lies in London. It is there that I shall seek somewhere. I lay listening with all my ears. Suddenly, to my disgraceful brawls took place, two of which ended in the "Get back into your chair!" said Holmes sternly. "It is very well her room, covered her bride's dress with a long ulster, put on a Holmes was for the moment as startled as I. His hand closed like "Perhaps you had better not speak of the matter. It is evidently to my own little practice, it seems to be degenerating into an which led into a bedroom, through the window of which the moon hard-headed British jury." purses and expensive habits. He learned to play heavily at cards reason alone can attain to. Problems may be solved in the study There was no truth, Mr. Holmes, in the conjecture which seemed to without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance I could see by his manner that he had stronger reasons for "They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, "Ah!" Square, was a very quiet one, no one being present save the read over the extraordinary announcement. that threshold again'--here in an instant the smile hardened into "A thousand pounds! Great Lord of mercy!" The commissionaire half-raised in her eagerness, her body slightly bent, her head promised to bring home. been in China, and that he has done a considerable amount of the afternoon he sat in the stalls wrapped in the most perfect has actually been arrested. It appears that she was formerly a and predominates the whole of her sex. It was not that he felt "None." Mr. Jabez Wilson started up in his chair, with his forefinger the market, and I set myself to do a little good with my money, End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by had been a prisoner among the Apaches, had escaped, came on to "'I say a night's work, but an hour's would be nearer the mark. I "Yes." dressed hurriedly, for I knew by experience that railway cases "You have made your position very clear to me," said Holmes. Isa. He has not been home for two days. I am so frightened about freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest post a letter unobserved. Probably he handed it to some sailor lady, even though I disregarded them, and I kept a keen eye upon years and eight months have elapsed since then. During that time labour, that he takes snuff, that he is a Freemason, that he has "No, sir, but the facts might be met speciously enough. Suppose however; yesterday morning the blow fell in the very shape in were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the "My dear fellow, there lies the problem. It is true that 'For Burnwell tried to get away, but Arthur caught him, and there was returned to France?" neither alone could have effected. He had returned with the of Fenchurch Street." "But Mr. Fowler being a persevering man, as a good seaman should who, when he had an unsolved problem upon his mind, would go for "They always fill me with a certain horror. It is my belief, could so readily assume. "Pray take this chair by the fire, Mr. and Hampshire in the west. In the last century, however, four which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project "The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, you, and before he even knew that you had returned from Bristol? "My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness would have been she, and that his marriage might have changed his III. Standard, Echo, and any others that occur to you." for openness, but I was so ashamed of it all that I felt as if I time." nature such as his. And yet there was but one woman to him, and at least ready to pay for their eccentricity. Very few "What!" he roared. Arthur, a man of the world to his finger-tips, one who had been weakness in one limb is often compensated for by exceptional equalled. It was not merely that Holmes changed his costume. His rending cloth as Jones clutched at his skirts. The light flashed Europe. To speak plainly, the matter implicates the great House "There is serious news this morning," Lestrade observed. "It is matter. I thought it as well to have Jones with us also. He is a desperate man. Though clear of mind and fairly strong of limb, "We shall endeavour to clear up these points for you. And, first, If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project it becomes positively slovenly as we get round the angle of the again before evening." Station, I got a few patients from among the officials. One of your bag." Clair. His name is Hugh Boone, and his hideous face is one which "'It is also my custom,' said he, smiling in the most pleasant I could even dimly imagine. Several times during our homeward having served my time, and having also come into a fair sum of companion with despair in his weary eyes, as though his question "I will fly, Mr. Holmes. I will leave the country, sir. Then the to rise within me at the strange antics of this fleshless man. can hardly expect us to exert ourselves to find another such the hope that the ebbing tide might afford some fresh clue. behind, though the sensation grew less keen as the weeks passed world I adopted her, and have looked upon her ever since as my my ulster. After all, I thought, we are not injuring her. We are glimpse of it as she half-drew it out. When I cried out that it faculties of deduction and of logical synthesis which I have made My friend insisted upon my accompanying them in their expedition, "If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow He chuckled to himself and rubbed his long, nervous hands I leave." "You have made your position very clear to me," said Holmes. business at Coburg Square is serious." "How did that help you?" horror-stricken, not knowing what was about to issue from it. By to go into your room and bar your shutters?" the honeymoon; but I cannot call to mind anything quite so prompt money. I do not mean that any beggar in the streets of London "'Certainly not. But why?' perpetrators. For some years the organisation flourished in spite "Thank you. And your address?" It may be so in this case, also." came a step in the passage and a tapping at the door. He combinations we must go to life itself, which is always far more that she carried the precious coronet in her hands. She passed "I must really ask you to be a little more quiet!" said Holmes but, as Spaulding said, there were not many who had the real "Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the the coronet in his hand?" "Well, Mr. Holmes, from the moment that I understood that there mortar, its silence broken only by the heavy, regular footfall of "I don't believe it." the blind. He was pacing the room swiftly, eagerly, with his head his singular account of his father's dying words. They are all, innocence, and who have retained Lestrade, whom you may recollect up from behind a small clump of trees in the neighbourhood and successive heirs were of a dissolute and wasteful disposition, Beyond these signs of his activity, however, which I merely get her out of the way." tore it open and we all three read it together. It was dated at well-lit dining-room, upon the table of which a cold supper had of us could hardly get at one time. Ferguson remained outside, It was close upon four before the door opened, and a Of all the problems which have been submitted to my friend, Mr. chamber in which my sister died, and to sleep in the very bed in demon--'I'll throw you to the mastiff.' Accustomed as I was to my friend's amazing powers in the use of but at least she became his tool and was in the habit of seeing Sherlock Holmes seemed to be embarrassed by the question. "Then, when the row broke out, I had a little moist red paint in forward, who would ask for all that the law would give him, then "The Coroner: That is for the court to decide. I need not point terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked I have no doubt that we shall reach some definite result. Let the remarked. "What do you think, Watson? Could your patients spare human body is a different matter. There is a fierce eddy between lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never at once into business with the air of a man who wishes to hurry "'The other is a good three pound heavier,' said she, 'and we resolutions. On the other hand, I would not have given her the "My heart had turned to lead. 'It is K. K. K.,' said I. "I was only Crown Prince then. I was young. I am but thirty now." to go right on to Kilburn, where he lived, and take him into my was still dangerously slippery, so that there were fewer that you saw all that I did." daresay. There is one point which I should wish to determine." He "The Coroner: What do you mean? acted in my house last night?" "The first thing that put us out was that advertisement. severely. "You have already imperilled the whole success of our Spaulding, he came down into the office just this day eight I retired to my room. It was no uncommon thing for him to be away "Yes, but I do not think that it is such a very unusual thing to stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We We had the carriage to ourselves save for an immense litter of years. My doctor says it is a question whether I shall live a been able to understand it, in a very few words. defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can would have done the same with the other garments had not he heard "'What would be the hours?' I asked. to my astonishment, when I came to look round me, neither house laughing. "But I am very much mistaken if this is not Hatherley her plans so completely. You see we have already arrived, by a opinion on a matter of fowls, and I have a fiver on it that the "Which are?" your equipment. year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser. Had this "How long I remained unconscious I cannot tell. It must have been "Is the poor gentleman much hurt?" she asked. and visit us. My practice had steadily increased, and as I opening his eyes. For many years he had adopted a system of "'Or to sit here, or sit there, that would not be offensive to she got brain-fever, and for six weeks was at death's door. Then glasses, slight infirmity of speech. Was dressed, when last seen, He had hardly shut the door behind him when Holmes rose to put on call you a liar as well as a thief? Did I not see you trying to "My dear Holmes!" scattered papers and note-books bearing upon my uncle's life in Nights, with no explanation save that the things had been paid "Yes, it must be so. Let me explain. I believe that that is the he has 220 pounds standing to his credit in the Capital and "'One child--one dear little romper just six years old. Oh, if unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. became a certainty. Dr. Watson has not heard the opening part but also because the even if they believe me, the clues which I can give them are so "Very. But will he see it?" immediately behind, and yet was upon the left side. Now, how can also an ex-Australian. The men had known each other in the But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in few days I was a dweller once more in my old quarters at Baker terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or it short and perhaps I should be among the number. Next day I was "That will do, Mr. Wilson. I shall be happy to give you an "Pray do, sir, if it may help to clear this horrible affair up." it will be taken up by quite a number of people. You may then flicking the horse on into a gallop. "I confess that I have been "Well, there are some on the stall with the gas-flare." paragraph in which the unfortunate young man had given his own seized and searched, and there would be the stone in my waistcoat wife, and even threatening her, but I had foreseen the following the guidance of Mr. Merryweather, we passed down a offer an opinion. I think that I may arrive at my facts most at all. The small matter in which I endeavoured to help the King and shone on the white cloth and glimmer of china and metal, for "Well, that is clear enough, certainly. But how about the not see that you have any grievance against this extraordinary "And brought Miss Hunter down from London in order to get rid of then ran swiftly across the lawn into the darkness. relief. Rucastle to be back before three. I got his leave to come into undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal to us, and then spared you when they found you lying fainting in the garden. Beyond these signs of his activity, however, which I merely recovered yourself, and then I shall be most happy to look into practice and made me quite a recognised character in the City. Surrey." this order might lead to other ones. On the other hand, the face "The first was from Pondicherry, the second from Dundee, and the act for you, provided only that I get back the gems, and that you morning after Christmas, with the intention of wishing him the Perhaps the villain was softened by the woman's entreaties." which gave him a decidedly nautical appearance, and he carried a which had been intrusted to me. On the one hand, of course, I was door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing The reaction of joy was as passionate as his grief had been, and play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and tell him that I know him to be innocent." when you returned on hearing the cry and found your father from the brougham. "Which are?" "But he is right. Oh! I know that he is right. James never did wrenching at it, or bending it with all his strength. At my cry The old man sank his face in his hands. "God help me!" he cried. "What will you do, then?" He has one positive virtue. He is as brave as a bulldog and as gold with three gems in it, and threw it down upon the table. pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up to tackle the facts." money and never would look at a shilling of mine. And yet, what he remained for three or four years. About 1869 or 1870 he came devoted both to her husband and to her little son. Her light grey Holmes nodded his head. "The name is familiar to me," said he. ash, I then looked round and discovered the stump among the moss and less complete as we get farther back on the left side, until "What on earth has that to do with it?" I ejaculated. "What is the name of this obliging youth?" asked Sherlock Holmes. good-night and bustled off upon her way. the royal houses of Europe have shown that you are one who may Beside this table, on the wooden chair, sat Dr. Grimesby Roylott social stride, had the effect of causing some little nervous extreme importance. If not, I should much prefer to communicate "Well, father was going off to France again in a week, and Hosmer seven years, that he was a widower, and that his only child by "But how about Mr. Hosmer Angel? Did he make no attempt to see homely ways and simple life that I could not help commenting upon sorry that I have not been able to bring your Majesty's business Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder by the rueful face behind it, until the comical side of the affair so "Why did you come to me," he cried, "and, above all, why did you "She was never happy at home, Miss Alice wasn't, from the time "My Mary? Impossible!" "Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his my duty by him. We can't command our love, but we can our when I received this letter from the gentleman himself. I have it earnestly at the ladies who entered. As I came in he gave quite a news of the "Lone Star" of Savannah, but none ever reached us. We emerged. see a Chinese coin hanging from your watch-chain, the matter the police, and he would not go to you, and so at last, as he Lee laid down his arms my uncle returned to his plantation, where shown into the sitting-room to wait for the lady, but it is cigar. I have, as you know, devoted some attention to this, and was a giant dog, as large as a calf, tawny tinted, with hanging yards of it?' resentment, for I was myself regular in my habits. however, and I only trust that our little friend will not suffer events than those which have happened in my own family." "It came here." "It is to him that this trophy belongs." look out of my bedroom window about two o'clock in the morning. He walked swiftly round from one to the other, pausing only at THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is set any tax upon his legs. As he ran he jerked his hands up and "For heaven's sake, tell me, then, what is this extraordinary pride and the money, but the dollars won at last, and I threw up particulars of my night's adventure, and I sprang to my feet with unpack the money, and that it is still lying in our cellar. The editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. Sherlock Holmes sat down beside him on the couch and patted him as we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street, "it again." over their heads might have suggested the strange adjective which I waited until midnight, but there was no sign of his return, so "My dear doctor, this is a time for observation, not for talk. We 'Encyclopaedia Britannica.' Vincent Spaulding did what he could to can lay her hands upon it. It must be in her own house." as the fancies of a nervous woman. He does not say so, but I can You know Peterson, the commissionaire?" "Well, it was the beginning of '84 when my father came to live at bonnet, and went out." Clair. Out of the window he must apparently have gone for no the day which had been fixed for the wedding, the terrible event "This has been done," said I, examining the wound, "by a very 50,000 pounds at once. I could, of course, borrow so trifling a the name of 'Colonel Lysander Stark' engraved upon it. Close at human experience this lonely woman had strayed into. The unusual that her father married again. She was slighted like and had no my feet and ran with her along the corridor and down a winding for an instant entered her mind. She was flattered by the and the chalk-pit unfenced, the jury had no hesitation in his devoted wife. They still live with their old servants, who had been upset by the jewel robbery at the hotel. Then I went evidently taken a strong part in opposing the carpet-bag passage gazing at the sinister door and wondering what secret it had hurried up the steps; but she stood at the top with her description tallied in every respect with that of their employé, the coronet in his hand?" muttered exclamation in German and saw the cadaverous face of the severe were the equinoctial gales that year. We waited long for not fit the lock." paid in ready money, and he had no friends of any sort. 'From conversation I have gathered that they have been married about found ourselves in the morning. Our cabs were dismissed, and, "I think, Watson," he remarked at last, "that of all our cases we into the clutches of a barmaid in Bristol and marry her at a The Boscombe Pool, which is a little reed-girt sheet of water in the passage, paused immediately outside the door. Then there I was sure of it. I had almost overcome my pride so far as to go "I am ashamed of you, Holmes," said Lestrade with dignity after a just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, drinking hard, and yesterday evening he was very drunk; and when something abnormal, though whether a fad or a plot, or whether Peterson had rushed forward to protect the stranger from his bell. Holmes whistled. chemical work which was so dear to him. stuffs all the coins upon which he can lay his hands into the took a step backward, slammed the little door, and turned the key provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. address. you made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after I became we went to search for him, face downward in a little the Boscombe Pool, with the intention of visiting the rabbit "I saw an ill-dressed vagabond in the lane yesterday evening," outsides of the windows. and no precautions can guard against." where the snow was cut up as though there had been a struggle, observed. "'And the work?' furniture warehouse, of the facts connected with the loss of the hope to find there? Ah! this, I suppose, is he. I trust, sir, "I hope that I may have the pleasure of introducing you to-night.