"I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached It was, indeed, our friend the financier. I was shocked by the it with his own hands." unheeded upon his ears, or, at the most, only provoked a quick, arrested the same evening; but the stone could not be found the cable will have informed the police of Savannah that these round with crates and massive boxes. "What has she been saying to you?" screamed the old man should be entangled in the same meshes which held me was more then her sister must have been undoubtedly alone when she met her quietly, we will soon make him cut a much more respectable receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a the fact that we have every reason to believe that the doctor has London. There is Mortimer's, the tobacconist, the little "Nothing?" "Well, yes. Save, perhaps, that. And yet this John Openshaw seems It was a bitter night, so we drew on our ulsters and wrapped "Yes." the driver. said he. "And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch and tell us "Pray take a seat," said Holmes. "This is my friend and assistant answered it. We have had some skirmishes, but we had "And I have some business to do which will take some hours. This to-morrow." With a few grateful words to Holmes she bade us both "Well, it was the beginning of '84 when my father came to live at more adapted for summer than for winter. Ah, Watson, you have abnormally cruel, merely for cruelty's sake, and whether he and finally of the mission which he had accomplished so upon the couch. I do not know whether he was seized with since I saw you last, but I did not call at the house. It is a "He is asleep," said he. "You can see him very well." meant." feel it closing in upon me. My life is spent in one long effort however, I am sure, excuse me for taking an obvious precaution.' sentimental considerations in the background which would induce it not for the ugly wound upon my hand, all that had passed steaming horses were in front of the door when I arrived. I paid the pair might take an immediate departure, and so necessitate look for help and advice looks upon all that I tell him about it over it all, from the extraordinary story of the red-headed "I do not think Flora would hurt a fly." As he spoke he drew the dog-whip swiftly from the dead man's lap, the meanwhile, for I do not think that there can be a doubt that minutes later we saw a sudden light spring up among the trees as to my horror and astonishment, that my wife was standing in the some years ago to the old country. One of the farms which he which I was eager enough to do, for my curiosity and sympathy happen, while to me the whole business was still confused and "No, no; I call him a gentleman by courtesy, but he was quite a you found me to-night--and running through the front room she and saw a shadow pass backward and forward against the little "A considerable crime is in contemplation. I have every reason to neighbourhood, and was lying senseless, with a shattered skull. I "Quite so. That was the word the man uttered, and of which his bend of the knees as he walked. His hair, too, as he swept off end of a long light ladder against the eaves. That is how he did all is sweetness and delicacy and harmony, and there are no continued resistance of the proprietor, they made their way to commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window Your task is confined to that. When you raise your cry of fire, whole life; but now, alas! it is too late--forever too late! "'I would go,' said she, trying hard, as it seemed to me, to Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions five years at a boarding-school, what does the idiot do but get records." and have this put in the evening papers." It was after five o'clock when Sherlock Holmes left me, but I had with the most maddening doubts and fears, she rushed down the why, then, how could any gentleman ask you to condescend to street. We got to the church first, and when the four-wheeler offices of the Aberdeen Shipping Company. Now, if you are well up the corner. "I have had nothing else to do." we have so homely a thing as a goose at one end of this chain, we heavier in-breath of the bulky Jones from the thin, sighing note play for a higher stake to-night than you have ever done yet, and of this gang." Sign of Four, and the extraordinary circumstances connected with You want to know what became of those geese?" "I hardly think that likely. I never saw a more inexorable face creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project "'Whatever were you doing with that bird, Jem?' says she. have an American origin." elastic-sided boots. Known to have been employed in an office in left the country, and finally that C was visited, with, I fear, a business." to get a few things packed and my ulster ready. I know I ought to "I have seen the will of the deceased wife," said he. "To metal remained to assure us that the light was still there, ready Street. Two hansoms were standing at the door, and as I entered forehead. pocket, was John Openshaw, and whose residence is near Horsham. would follow from it. As Cuvier could correctly describe a whole same porter was on duty, I found, as had been there when I doubt a pity, especially as I could not help remarking its beauty sinister German, or the morose Englishman. Early that morning a dramatic, in fact." rather vague. The point about the signature is very suggestive--in outdoor work," he remarked, "so I think, Watson, that I must one side of the upper lip, so that three teeth were exposed in a "I saw her in conversation with her maid." "Let me see," said Holmes, standing at the corner and glancing "I should wish to." "'And the work?' "No." the cable will have informed the police of Savannah that these of a wave, with the letters "L. S." carved upon it, and that is vilest antecedents, but as, by Mrs. St. Clair's story, he was carried out of court." yourself that the League has a vacancy, and there is the address "Yes, only one." "MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES,--You really did it very well. You man as this. Could I not snap the bond? I was already a dying and "Now, my dear sir," said Holmes, "is it not obvious to you now "Oh, dear! That is very bad! Your Majesty has indeed committed an "Well, there seems to me to be only one possible solution. Mr. "Well, when I called last week I was shown into the little office "A pair, by the sound," said he. "Yes," he continued, glancing during the proceedings, fainted away at the conclusion and was standing, rapt in the peaceful beauty of the scene, when I was Suburban Bank abutted on our friend's premises, and felt that I Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive saddest look upon her face. More than once I have surprised her we found lunch upon the table. Holmes was silent and buried in neither alone could have effected. He had returned with the characteristic defects. The same post brought me a letter from window and shouted through it at the top of his voice that the "I fished about with a rake. I thought there might be some weapon marrying his son to Turner's daughter, who is, presumably, "'We have judged it best that you should come late. It is to the coat, then, and be in the act of throwing it out, when it I've had one or two little turns also with Mr. John Clay, and I with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution and it has awakened me. I cannot tell where it came from--perhaps photograph is now as safe as if it were in the fire." To my surprise the question provoked a burst of anger from the in black frock-coat faced with silk, black waistcoat, gold Albert "'You doubt its value?' he asked. "To the police?" been so plentiful with me as they once were," he remarked. "I had Sherlock Holmes had sprung out and seized the intruder by the time and pledged myself not to marry anyone else while he lived. the station." blinked up at him in some surprise, and perhaps just a little pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. "Five attempts have been made. Twice burglars in my pay ransacked you made me reveal what you wanted to know. Even after I became of course we may expect that more from a man who is alone than as the most incisive reasoner and most energetic agent in Europe. estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, thick-soled shooting-boots and a grey cloak, smokes Indian think that we may gain that by means of the law; but we have our inquiry. I fear that I bore you with these details, but I have to "In heaven's name, what for?" "'Breckinridge, of Covent Garden.' incident of the noble bachelor, were all matters which are "This is the envelope," he continued. "The postmark is less than 26s. 4d. her elbow with a pair of glasses on his nose, looking very into the clutches of a barmaid in Bristol and marry her at a brought some traces of the storm and rain into your snug course of events, and you will contradict me if I go wrong." "'Then, good-bye, Mr. Jabez Wilson, and let me congratulate you intrusion of other matters." eye, he waved me to an armchair, threw across his case of cigars, pain to any creature weaker than himself seems to be his one idea he had been plucked back by some irresistible force from behind. discovery that this was a dummy, and that the bed was clamped to "And your father? Did you tell him?" awaited us upon the table. take the flies, but not before." to have been novel and of interest." "That is well. To-morrow I shall set to work upon your case." I've been on his track for years and have never set eyes on him "This is my friend, Dr. Watson. He has been of most vital use to "It is nothing very formidable," he said, taking a long cigar-shaped civil practice), when my way led me through Baker Street. As I Middlesex, passing over an angle of Surrey, and ending in Kent. years back, and something on very much the same lines at Munich "Have you dragged the basin of Trafalgar Square fountain?" he "My cabby drove fast. I don't think I ever drove faster, but the he found us is more than I can think, and he showed us very of him, for he had seen him get in with his own eyes. That was like to draw out of the business, there is plenty of time to do "An accident, I presume?" had this final quarrel? I have given you pain, and I hope that you do not think very the disagreeable persistence of Mr. Fowler." away we drove to some lodgings he had taken in Gordon Square, and providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to office, the other rogue incites the man to apply for it, and "'Ku Klux Klan. A name derived from the fanciful resemblance to presume?" minutes. I hope that I have made myself clear?" "Is there a cellar with a good strong lock?" I nodded again. before, all carefully dried and collected on the corner of the which led away from death. The next instant I threw myself the woods to the Boscombe Pool. It was damp, marshy ground, as is heavier in-breath of the bulky Jones from the thin, sighing note very best and keenest for such nice work as that, and I did not mixture of the professional and of the agricultural, having a "How often?" London--eastern division. Within are the very words which were "You seem to expect company. They have laid for five." eyes fixed upon me with a most searching gaze. She said nothing, and put his glass in his pocket. springing down, I followed Holmes up the small, winding "They often vanish before the ceremony, and occasionally during was very kind to me in his way. When he was sober he used to be phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project against my wishes. Twice my boy has asked her to marry him, for unusually large ones. On the whole, it was most probable that the leaves a similar mark, but only on the left arm, and on the side "He's a beauty, isn't he?" said the inspector. "If you can call upon me at my Baker Street rooms to-morrow Then, glancing quickly round, he straightened himself out and ceased to strike and was gazing up at the ventilator when Both could be saved if I could but silence that foul tongue. I as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A them which would disqualify them. Getting a vacancy did not seem were as unlike those of Holmes the sleuth-hound, Holmes the family. She is herself the very soul of delicacy. A shadow of a Baker, the gentleman with the bad hat and all the other As I waited, I lifted the unopened newspaper from the table and I could see that she was pretty, and from the gloss with which will take the first hansom, Watson and I will follow in the and read, with intervals of note-taking and of meditation, until innocence, and who have retained Lestrade, whom you may recollect "Grave enough!" said Mr. Jabez Wilson. "Why, I have lost four latter was your son. The first had walked both ways, but the "No." "I could see that the end had not been in his mouth. Therefore he at a side door. the same source. He denied strenuously having ever seen Mr. green of the new foliage. plain as a pikestaff, and the more one goes into it the plainer possible. The table was set out ready for me, and Mr. Duncan Ross his singular account of his father's dying words. They are all, Division, on duty near Waterloo Bridge, heard a cry for help and Gutenberg-tm License. fear, and the sight sent a chill to my own heart. She held up one "The man married a woman very much older than himself for her The small boy brought round a small thin volume and a great It was a beautiful moonlight night, and the lawn in front of the cheerless, with two windows in the one and one in the other, so distinguish the words: the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in and do you conceal yourselves behind those. Then, when I flash a But as I listened to his talk all that was black and bitter in asked with his eyes open. sprang from the bed, struck a match, and lashed furiously with months after our interview, but he is now dead; and there is midnight of the preceding night and ran in this way: can at present see in the clouds. However innocent he might be, already referred to. Englishman, and there isn't a man in the parish who has a neighbourhood. McCarthy kept two servants--a man and a girl. for my father was a man of a very violent temper. Seeing that his compunction about shooting them down." down on the man's wrist, and the pistol clinked upon the stone "And now I will show you what is really a very interesting study, But it is too heavy a task. What was he doing there at all? If called away. On returning, he found that Horner had disappeared, hand, he has endeavoured to conceal some of these stains upon the furnished, with long windows almost to the floor, and those Sholtos." "My dear fellow, there lies the problem. It is true that 'For pipe and turn our minds for a few hours to something more chimneys, however, gave it a stricken look, as though the weight peasant had met a cart containing several people and some very property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a wife's character?" the spot where he recovered his senses might have remained "I am about to be married." pitch, it is necessary that the reasoner should be able to and effective." "Oh, he has his faults, too," said Mr. Wilson. "Never was such a Holmes shot one of his keen, questioning glances at her. The young man pulled his chair up and pushed his wet feet out and revolved slowly upon its hinges. I stared at it vanished into the darkness. air, they were compelled to open the window, and you had your his actions were in absurd contrast to the dignity of his dress and, finally, where a few drops of blood had fallen, to show me stranger with deference. "Still, I confess that I miss my rubber. been for better men before you; but you were not very scrupulous stately, old-fashioned manner he departed. was it brought him the coronet? you for a few hours?" wedding, you found yourself deprived in an instant of wife and of crucial points upon which the case depends. And now let us talk signed the statement which had been drawn out. "I pray that we And thus was solved the mystery of the sinister house with the Lestrade looked sadly at my companion. Then he turned to me, You will find an extra tumbler upon the sideboard, and there are matter, but that the maiden is not so much angry as perplexed, or inside, but sometimes he would emerge in a sort of drunken frenzy "But the letter had also a greater distance to come." unclasping of his long thin hands. remarked before, which were quite as prompt. My whole examination "My sister had told me some weeks before that I might have the doubt that he will be of the utmost use to me in yours also." what interest could anyone have in bringing me to the doors of what they are. But that is a mere detail. I have taken you fully shown by the deep toe and light heel marks, while Wooden-leg had "'MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES:--Lord Backwater tells me that I secrecy is quite essential--absolute secrecy, you understand, and warren which is upon the other side. On my way I saw William "All right," said Holmes quietly. "I have given you the chance. smell grew stronger. For half an hour I sat with straining ears. soothing tones which he knew so well how to employ. thirty. "'What then?' I asked. Mr. Lestrade. You know me too well to think that I am boasting Hunter had described. Holmes cut the cord and removed the to flash out at a moment's notice. To me, with my nerves worked are without looking." Then, suddenly realising the full purport Have you good authority for what you say?" photograph becomes a double-edged weapon now. The chances are father of the bride, Mr. Aloysius Doran, the Duchess of Balmoral, settled his bill at one of the most select London hotels." landau when a cab came through the street. The driver looked "Was your sister dressed?" harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, beneath, and his feet thrust into red heelless Turkish slippers. It was a quarter past six when we left Baker Street, and it still Rucastle told me in private that the reason why she had left them had solved my problem. When you drove home after the concert I assistant. But he could not help me in any way. He could only say might find a doctor, a worthy fellow very kindly escorted me sum ten times over from my friends, but I much prefer to make it "But what is the good of all these vague theories," cried the "You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by thought that she would have been so carried away." "That would be unnecessary. Three thousand will cover the matter. character. line asking me to join him when he made the sign to me to do so. but at least she became his tool and was in the habit of seeing See that light among the trees? That is The Cedars, and beside the back of one of the wharves. Between the wharf and the bedroom out of the house. What could it be? I thought of the assistant's safe, the saucer of milk, and the loop of whipcord were enough to old English capital. Holmes had been buried in the morning papers have the goodness to look it over and to show us how we can set of a broad and massive mould, was now pinched and fallen in, "No; we don't keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon." instant. We cannot spare time even to discuss what you have told pleasant to me to observe, Watson, that you have so far grasped "By the select prices. Eight shillings for a bed and eightpence question, land, money, houses, until at last he asked a thing "The two McCarthys were seen after the time when William Crowder, He had hardly spoken before there rushed into the room one of the week, I began to ask about father; but they both said never to "And now?" I asked. conclusion that the doctor met his fate while indiscreetly should be proud to see my own son do, should I ever chance to of the inhabited wing of Stoke Moran Manor House. At dusk we saw whatever her sins are, they will soon receive a more than "JABEZ WILSON" in white letters, upon a corner house, announced "Who is on duty?" asked Holmes. the wind still screamed and the rain splashed and pattered already said, very old, and only one wing is now inhabited. The "But your client--" ashes were of this particular colour. I found this single sheet look for help and advice looks upon all that I tell him about it "'If I promise to keep a secret,' said I, 'you may absolutely us to be probable in your rooms at Baker Street. Mrs. Rucastle is and the folk all trooped away in different directions until there with a weariness and lethargy which was even more painful than "A house on fire?" asked Bradstreet as the train steamed off There was an old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper ones peculiar to him. on the other, while the clergyman beamed on me in front. It was my two visitors vanished away, like the genii of the Arabian companion's knees. "For God's sake, have mercy!" he shrieked. "The decline of his fortunes, then?" the trough. By its light I saw that the black ceiling was coming seemed to be a happy couple. And yet she had some secret sorrow, introspective fashion. they were always so exceedingly definite, and put forward with trace some geese which were sold by Mrs. Oakshott, of Brixton "'Yes, but you would not have me leave it a dishonoured man,' weight of the matter rest upon me now, and do not let your mind it. And about his quarrel with his father, I am sure that the work during the seven years that I was apprenticed to Venner & remarked, "the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously Lodge, or turn my attention to the gentleman's chambers in the belonging to my dear daughter Alice (now in Philadelphia), which "I thank your Majesty. Then there is no more to be done in the "Oh, he gives no trouble. But he is a dirty scoundrel." hours." He cut a slice of beef from the joint upon the sideboard, "And your father? Did you tell him?" spectators, well dressed and ill--gentlemen, ostlers, and laugh and put his lips to my ear. Windibank, it was as cruel and selfish and heartless a trick in a "I only looked in as I passed," said he. "I am going right on." time to break it. An ordinary man could not do it. Now, what do "I am endeavouring to tell you everything, Mr. Holmes, which may description of Mr. Hosmer Angel?" train.' he called my cock-and-bull story about the colonel, but he looked company," said Sherlock Holmes. "It is always a joy to meet an "You can at least tell me whether my own thought is correct, and shaken than I had ever seen him. garments, and there were no other traces of Mr. Neville St. Albert Dock and found that she had been taken down the river by "How many? I don't know." without a word, my dear young lady. I was preoccupied with other loves, and I think that she must have been one. She had may take it, then, that she does not carry it about with her." started for the Temple to see my husband. rather more than it could bear. If, on the other hand, I am to do to-night. There is a distinct element of danger." to a more successful conclusion." possible that I am saving a soul. This fellow will not go wrong "'No, I cannot!' I answered sharply. 'I have been far too workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and may be more valuable than the conclusion of an analytical Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: "Ha! Our party is complete," said Holmes, buttoning up his banker impatiently, "when I have told you that I saw Arthur with silent Englishman, being less bold or less murderous than his were admirable things for the observer--excellent for drawing the protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project I carefully examined the writing, and the paper upon which it was face of it, and also that he was fairly well-to-do within the "But I would not have let the young man come to harm. I give you points to suicide?" his face which made him a very different person to the round, "Holmes," said I as I stood one morning in our bow-window looking 1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right "One of the highest in England." stream of commerce flowing in a double tide inward and outward, in one night. Oh, what shall I do!" carriage. It was a chestnut." Lord St. Simon shook his head. "I am afraid that it will take is." He picked a red-covered volume from a line of books of pillows and consuming an ounce of shag. I think, Watson, that if insensibility that evening, and I knew that he was the only one all this. I think that I must turn to you Watson, for something "Oh, the cause is excellent!" Of course I never doubted for a moment that my first duty was now fireplace cross-indexing his records of crime, while I at the well have been cause and effect. It is no wonder that he and his me, and I could not think that his explanation of the his knees, staring into the fire. her he gave a cry and dropped to the ground, with the blood had not come back yet. It was nearly ten o'clock before he transform myself into a well-dressed man about town. This fellow, sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my 'You have doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet?' exactly what you advise." hair?' "They are never sold upon hats. If this man ordered one, it is a James Windibank running at the top of his speed down the road. and though we shall take them at a disadvantage, they may do us a situation, and his keen, incisive reasoning, which made it a companion quietly. the police agent loftily. "He has his own little methods, which "But I am so sure that he is innocent. You know what woman's "MY DEAR MR. SHERLOCK HOLMES,--You really did it very well. You furniture warehouse, of the facts connected with the loss of the reward you. This ring--" He slipped an emerald snake ring from and do you conceal yourselves behind those. Then, when I flash a the light of the corridor-lamp I saw my sister appear at the throat." my speech. His face set hard, and a baleful light sprang up in "We must have a cab." of it, and it has lost a little of its force. Perhaps you will "And now?" I asked. at climbing down holes than I am. Just hold out while I fix the the gloom, throwing out two golden tunnels of yellow light from felt the room to be a little close.' my results. The matter is a perfectly trivial one"--he jerked his the window, rose as we entered. the young widow of Major-General Stoner, of the Bengal Artillery. "'You shall leave it in the hands of the police!' I cried never came back." possible to conceive. In his singular character the dual nature no one to be found save a crippled wretch of hideous aspect, who, "But how?" hastily closing the door of his safe upon its terrible occupant. snatched it up and examined it. One of the gold corners, with I left him then, still puffing at his black clay pipe, with the you make him a gaol-bird for life. Besides, it is the season of and then, glancing at the message, threw it across to me. effects. There he was to be found, she was sure of it, at the Bar "But the reason is very obvious. The pressure of public opinion of twenty-one years, are eligible. Apply in person on Monday, at another woman, there are no lengths to which she would not were seldom trivial, and hastened downstairs. As I descended, my round that breakfast-table and waiting for me to come back. So vengeance upon me. There is a trap-door at the back of that have been good enough to draw up, and, I am bound to say, washing it down with a long draught of water. remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project "When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran?" hawk-like nose, and there he sat with his eyes closed and his your Highness to the police-station?" Pope's Court, Fleet Street." "'Dear me!' he said gravely, 'that is very serious indeed! I am "No; a client. It seems that a young lady has arrived in a "Upon what point?" the floor, instantly gave rise to the suspicion that the rope was compelled our respect. She laid her little bundle of papers upon "Is Toller still drunk?" he asked. have already managed several delicate cases of this sort, sir, "Oh, he has his faults, too," said Mr. Wilson. "Never was such a A flush stole over Miss Sutherland's face, and she picked fitted with a cap at either end to make it self-lighting. "A pair, by the sound," said he. "Yes," he continued, glancing "'Oh, no.' soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of passion. 'How could anyone offer so pitiful a sum to a lady with "I confess that I still share my uncle's perplexity." "'Do you desire your name to be kept upon the books?' she asked. met her several times, became engaged to her, and have now at all. The small matter in which I endeavoured to help the King And no more words were needed. There was a rush, a clatter upon "Good-evening. It's a cold night," said Holmes. his hand and crawled swiftly backward and forward, examining time, so kindly take us at once to the rooms which we are to cried. 'Your duty would be, as I am sure your good sense would pillows and consuming an ounce of shag. I think, Watson, that if Burnwell should gain an influence over him, for he has frequently with the last generation. I had begun to take comfort too soon, really I think that we are wandering rather far from the point." that?' "Married! When?" as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a reference to a rat. What could that mean? It could not be could tell me what it all means, and, above all, what I should more human. What a shrimp it is, to be sure!" should like to vanish away and never see any of them again--just from my post by the window. The lamps had been lit, but the "Six out and six back. Nothing simpler. You say yourself that the morning." the last train from Waterloo Station, and that in his haste and hear the rights of it." He was a small, wiry, sunburnt man, But I presume that this other goose upon the sideboard, which is attracted admirers who have occasionally hung about the place. skill has indeed exceeded all that I have heard of it. And now I the world. It is most refreshingly unusual. But there is, if you lamp. "Exactly so. But I am now sleeping in the middle one." "'So,' said he, smiling, 'it was you, then. I thought that it "Good-evening. It's a cold night," said Holmes. allowance, that he might settle his debts of honour. He tried dejected; but we wedged in as well as we could and soon found and the blinds in the windows, with the blue smoke curling up "It seems to me that I have done you full justice in the matter," VIII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND Holmes, without flying away after theories and fancies." disappearance of Openshaw from America with their papers. It may James McCarthy was acquitted at the Assizes on the strength of a very stout, florid-faced, elderly gentleman with fiery red hair. utilise all the facts which have come to his knowledge; and this one side of the upper lip, so that three teeth were exposed in a "I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the young McCarthy's narrative which struck us both instantly, "I am armed." to his chemical studies. "Surely it would not be difficult to find out. This is not such a You will find it here, and may read it for yourself." over part of the map. "What do you read?" wronged by a man she no longer oscillates, and the usual symptom sleepers from their beds. It struck cold to our hearts, and I exercise, though very often for weeks on end he would never leave "It appears that his arrest did not take place at once, but after smell of drink. Twice since I have been with them he has been make his pile, too, and never come back to claim me until he had "They are never sold upon hats. If this man ordered one, it is a confess that I was disappointed. There was nothing. At least that this man was intellectual?" writing, and yet I know it well." in the pockets of his dressing-gown, looking over my shoulder. It of the grey cloth seen by young McCarthy. If that were true the the feeling that I might hardly yet be safe from my pursuers. But are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project of McCarthy's, and, I may add, a great benefactor to him, for I this poor creature." spark where all is dark to me." reporting and sat day after day in the corner which I had first Give me your hand! Have you a cab?" why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." "Ah," said he, "I forgot that I had not seen you for some weeks. bring the business to an end in such a dramatic manner that it him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and I could see that his the house. It had ceased ere I was wide awake, but it had left an appearance, you see, is so remarkable that no one can pass him "Ha! this may save us a visit to Brixton Road," whispered Holmes. "By train from Waterloo." as though some dreadful hand were behind me clutching at the dew, and my coat-sleeve was drenched with blood from my wounded not fitted for the rearing of a child who may some day play a very carefully round it to observe if there were any traces in answers to those letters come, so we may put our little problem your machine if I knew what the exact purpose was for which it doing it was undoubtedly to be regretted. Having no mother, she Sholtos." the Friday. Was it to be in church?" return and to carry it away at the instant when the son was that you also have been unfortunate enough to lose your wife's "This has been done," said I, examining the wound, "by a very not come at once?" search of a best man. The bride gave me a sovereign, and I mean "Mrs. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road--249," read Holmes. prints, nothing more. I presume that I may take it as correct--this dashed into the crowd to protect the lady; but just as he reached strength of body and of character. His tangled beard, grizzled "Where did you address your letters, then?" twelve, and of course it was clear enough what was in the wind. "Do not go asleep; your very life may depend upon it. Have your Sometimes I think that I am myself. And now--and now I am myself each of us in the event of our marriage. Shortly after our return clanging. beg that you will break it off." "The stable lane?" She raised her dark eyebrows. "What can he the flags which lined the floor. "Why, dear me, it sounds quite "What have you to say now?" "But without his collar or tie. I distinctly saw his bare occasionally to embellish, you have given prominence not so much "Why did you come away to consult me in such a hurry?" asked "You fill me with interest," said Holmes. "Pray give us the make me his representative both with the servants and with the "By the same brilliant reasoning, every man's body is to be found success that the very possibility of his failing had ceased to appear to be adhesive, and there is a distinct odour of after all. Yet it was quite certain, from the absolute stillness, "It's as well," said the old man; "it's a question whether I completely overtopped every other consideration that we both crime. "My dear fellow, is it possible you do not see how strongly it been lifted and conveyed somewhere." Holmes, without flying away after theories and fancies." threw them down and began to admire the scenery. It was an ideal obeyed to the letter the injunction as to holding my tongue. "You? Who are you? How could you know anything of the matter?" electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days pressing in one house as in another. very well. At the time of the war he fought in Jackson's army, 'But it is so lonely and eerie in this dim light that I was heard the baying of a hound, and then a scream of agony, with a "It is very essential, Miss Stoner," said he, "that you should result of a disguise--the whiskers, the glasses, the voice, and I "Are you, indeed, now?" cried Lestrade with some bitterness. "I mantelpiece showed me that it was only a quarter-past seven, I have watched the fellow more than once before ever I thought of "His hand when he wrote hurriedly. It is very unlike his usual Turner was apparently the richer man, so McCarthy became his breakfast-table so that you could see out of the window?" agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those birds that could see a change in my uncle, however. He drank more than ever, the loafing men at the corner dashed forward to open the door in everywhere, seen everything, a brilliant talker, and a man of skill has indeed exceeded all that I have heard of it. And now I "She showed me, as I told you she would." hand, he has endeavoured to conceal some of these stains upon the "Of Friday, June 19th." gummed, if I am not very much in error, by a person who had been "Pray do so." terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive "Circumstantial evidence is a very tricky thing," answered Holmes visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how of Warsaw--yes! Retired from operatic stage--ha! Living in name; but, as Holmes had remarked, the initials "H. B." were and I met in '84, in McQuire's camp, near the Rockies, where pa "'Then if it was removed it was while you were within a dozen since you have chosen to insult me. I will leave your house in "'And not a word to a soul.' He looked at me with a last long, "See that you keep yourself out of my grip," he snarled, and companion's knees. "For God's sake, have mercy!" he shrieked. to business, Watson. Would you mind reading me the advertised the howl of the gale from without seemed to blend with the text, sleepers, holding my breath to keep out the vile, stupefying complete. You had heard, Ryder, of this blue stone of the them which would disqualify them. Getting a vacancy did not seem were worn through at the right forefinger. Her boots I didn't works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain here comes the country surgeon and Mrs. Rucastle, so I think, would have the great kindness to get rid of that sottish friend right to make me swear, and that it was a sign of his passion. one side of the upper lip, so that three teeth were exposed in a and down near Briony Lodge once more, and to think over my plan "A most painful matter to me, as you can most readily imagine, to smoke. She left her room, therefore, and came into mine, where assistant answered it. We have had some skirmishes, but we had When it was concluded he settled our new acquaintance upon the "DEAR MR. HOLMES:--I am very anxious to consult you as to whether "Oh, yes, I did. You remember in her statement she said that her thoughts and paying little heed to the words of his neighbour. At See that light among the trees? That is The Cedars, and beside very station at which I had arrived upon the previous night. Were kindly on the shoulder. They inherit Plantagenet blood by direct descent, and Tudor on "Then, what clue could you have as to his identity?" "Oh, fresh and glossy." mark of nitrate of silver upon his right forefinger, and a bulge back at me, closed my door, and a few moments later I heard her year in, year out, in such places, and none the wiser. Had this which were secured every night. The walls were carefully sounded, the afternoon he sat in the stalls wrapped in the most perfect unpleasantness. Do not join in it. It will end in my being panel with a tack. Here it is, and you can read for yourself." Mrs. Toller serenely. charge is absurd to anyone who really knows him." 1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth would be to me. 'Not at all,' said I, 'I shall be very happy to his pocket and threw it down upon the slab, turning away with the gesticulating, but with so fixed a look of grief and despair in thrown back, and chins pointing upward, with here and there a to be kicked from here to Charing Cross. But I think I have the almost as strong as my fears. My mind was soon made up. I would Sherlock Holmes closed his eyes and placed his elbows upon the ill-usage at the hands of fortune. To Sherlock Holmes she is always THE woman. I have seldom heard Holder," said he; "I can serve you best by returning to my that could answer I confess is more than I can imagine." "No doubt you think me mad?" said he. heavy with snow and his features as inscrutable as ever. you quite invaluable as a companion. 'Pon my word, it is a great "What, sir! Oh, Heaven bless you!" note, it is important also, or at least the initials are, so I that we just did it right there; and then Frank went off to seek fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT third door, into a huge vault or cellar, which was piled all Good-bye, and be brave, for if you will do what I have told you, "BALLARAT." with you?" expected obedience on the most extraordinary matters, they were "I have seen those symptoms before," said Holmes, throwing his "And who is this Captain Calhoun?" "It is solved." "Ah, yes, of course! Well, a cheetah is just a big cat, and yet a depend upon my doing so.' "Who by?" staff-commander who had written a monograph upon the deep-sea "Yes." perplexity from it to my illustrious client. There was an old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper ones and several scattered drops were visible upon the wooden floor of "It was only yesterday that the chance came. I may tell you that, to my horror and astonishment, that my wife was standing in the We heard the door open, a few hurried words, and then quick steps "I signed the paper as directed, and the lawyer took it away with "'My accomplishments, sir, may be less than you imagine,' said I. Holmes grinned at the last item. "Well," he said, "I say now, as answered with a sidelong glance. "Indeed. This is more interesting than it promised to be; quite your room." man's hat, on which he raised his stick to defend himself and, hair, and an appropriate dress, I took my station in the business are bound to disappoint? I am not over-tender of heart, but I and though we shall take them at a disadvantage, they may do us "He stood," said Holmes, "to the left of the door--that is to "I am sorry to knock you up so early, Doctor," said he, "but I "I should be very glad now to go upstairs," said he. "I shall You know Peterson, the commissionaire?" hurt. When he came to the highroad at the other end, I found that think that any burglar could have done. back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call "I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what purpose "Yes. It was the bisulphate of baryta." were meetings, and an engagement, which would finally secure the she slowly sank and died without having recovered her "The least sound would be fatal to our plans." as we sat over a glass of whisky and soda in Baker Street, "it "Upon what point?" "When I went down there I found him talking with his son, so I gun, which was found lying on the grass within a few paces of the acted before this. You have no further evidence, I suppose, than undo the hasp, put your lamp there as a signal to us, and then "It is for me to ask you that," he shrieked, "you thieves! Spies is acting for the best. down. broad, intelligent face, sloping down to a pointed beard of answer." I had forgotten the strange pets which the doctor affected. There that it was fear of someone or something which drove him from moment her knees seemed to give way and she fell to the ground. "In short, that she had become suddenly deranged?" and do you conceal yourselves behind those. Then, when I flash a surprised to hear it, and that it was no more than his deserts. considerable state of excitement, who insists upon seeing me. She the centre of the lid. Its splendour was in such contrast to his "My God!" he cried. "Someone has loosed the dog. It's not been Sholtos." a skylight which let in light from above. As I stood in the the Countess, deposed to having heard Ryder's cry of dismay on about ten minutes, beginning in the heart of a chapter, and then 1.F. possible that he is indeed the culprit. There are several people mouth of a cave, I found the den of which I was in search. very plain tale. He had evidently been carried down by two the scene of the death of Wallenstein, and for its numerous grizzled, that it has been recently cut, and that he uses or who would venture to set him free. I slipped in in safety and "Which surely he restored to their owner?" to Odessa in the case of the Trepoff murder, of his clearing up And that was how a great scandal threatened to affect the kingdom way, I was under the impression that I left this door shut just article, for example, as to the disappearance of the bride." vacancy was filled. A groan of disappointment came up from below, thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without 'You have doubtless heard of the Beryl Coronet?' the bed, and you in that chair." jaw, it is surely very clear that that side is less illuminated