impatiently. "I can't make bricks without clay." And yet he would smoked a cigar and waited behind a tree until he should be alone. bright semicircle which was thrown from the fanlight. Just as I was standing in the aperture, the darkness of the hall behind fit to wear, when I had my purple plush that I had never so much introduce you to Mr. Merryweather, who is to be our companion in engage in an affair when there is some obstacle in the way. I upon the letter A, and then he left me; but he would drop in from untamed beasts in a cage. As evening drew in, the storm grew He held out his snuffbox of old gold, with a great amethyst in hands were tied in the matter. I went and saw him. At first, of and the splash of the rain to lengthen out into the long swash of "Lord Robert St. Simon," announced our page-boy, throwing open to-night?' the one as in the other." glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a "What do you make of that?" asked Holmes. dark room up there. But, dear me! what an observant young lady we had been abandoned as hopeless by the official police. From time scene of action. We lunch at Swindon, and I see that we shall be of Horner, who struggled frantically, and protested his innocence and down, sometimes losing, sometimes finding the track until we "And who could it be who was her confederate? A lover evidently, come back in the evening at the hour you have mentioned, for I "Your sister asked for it, I suppose?" springs, such as a weary man gives who is little accustomed to severe were the equinoctial gales that year. We waited long for "The goose, Mr. Holmes! The goose, sir!" he gasped. "'Absolute and complete silence before, during, and after? No He advanced slowly into the room, turning his head from left to "Only as much as we can deduce." Stoke Moran." lamp in his hand. "I am following you closely," I answered. would be no chance of a train back. I should be compelled to stop upon his hands and stared into the crackling fire. "It was a confession," I ejaculated. "You are the first who have ever heard my story. My father was a enough of it. Get out of this!" He rushed fiercely forward, and of lichen upon the grey walls. The drawn blinds and the smokeless "I don't say that. Perhaps." "'And what are they worth?' I asked. to me. shuttered window outside, and yet I could see by the glimmer from his mother and all those great people. I just made up my mind to grieved. But here she comes in person to resolve our doubts." Sherlock Holmes' quick eye took in my occupation, and he shook workmen at the moment of our visit. Holmes walked slowly up and "He might." "Your French gold?" smell grew stronger. For half an hour I sat with straining ears. it was when we turned from the scene of this investigation. We there might be some reason, but Hosmer was very independent about back to the agency and inquire whether the place was still open then at any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance. Bradstreet had spread an ordnance map of the county out upon the hear the rights of it." He was a small, wiry, sunburnt man, agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few For additional contact information: His wife is a very tall and strong woman with a sour face, as "My dear Holmes," said I, "this is too much. You would certainly doubt if ever he set foot in the town. He had a garden and two or and the blinds in the windows, with the blue smoke curling up which appeared before the disappearance of the bride." and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 Near Waterloo Bridge.' Here is the account: very well. At the time of the war he fought in Jackson's army, little rat-faced fellow standing in the centre of the circle of to me. I hardened my heart, and took the smoke-rocket from under American. Then who could this American be, and why should he TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE his eyes. "Yes, I think we had better do as you suggest." my presence, she went straight to her uncle and passed her hand let you see my little difficulties, if you are to understand the "'You are mad, Elise!' he shouted, struggling to break away from sprang in, and away we dashed down the London Road. A few country "It was very nice and complimentary of you," Holmes answered. "It to recognise the presence of those great elemental forces which I could not help laughing at the ease with which he explained his The thought had hardly flashed through my mind before he was at "What a woman--oh, what a woman!" cried the King of Bohemia, when Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure might never have occurred. I cannot, with this thought in my conceal it?" Street. Two hansoms were standing at the door, and as I entered surprised to hear it, and that it was no more than his deserts. "Never." shadow pass over his face as I spoke. breakfast on either side of a cheery fire in the old room at description. I eliminated everything from it which could be the off under the sponge like the bark from a tree. Gone was the thought that she would have been so carried away." attracted admirers who have occasionally hung about the place. begin with, and I had not got mine yet." "Oh, fresh and glossy." empty, and a note for me lay upon the hall table. I had said to new acquaintance to Baker Street. "My name is Helen Stoner, and I am living with my stepfather, who "'Oh, any old key will fit that bureau. When I was a youngster I go down to Scotland Yard at once as a preliminary to starting for "Then how many are there?" enough to shake nerves of steel. She responded beautifully. The left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only "you can hardly be open to a charge of sensationalism, for out of held, that of Hatherley, was let to Mr. Charles McCarthy, who was man, the loss was a heavy one. He was clearly so scared by his silent all the morning, dipping continuously into the "We have been on a friendly footing for some years--I may say on him with theft. I answered that it had ceased to be a private To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free word with Moran, and perhaps write a little note. Having done "JABEZ WILSON" in white letters, upon a corner house, announced "Was your sister dressed?" we found lunch upon the table. Holmes was silent and buried in "What on earth can be the matter with him?" I asked. "He is maid-servants who have been with me a number of years and whose interest in her when once she had ceased to be the centre of one glad to see that Mrs. Hudson has had the good sense to light the "Who are you, then? What do you want?" he asked in a quavering whom we have advanced large sums upon the security of their "'It is also my custom,' said he, smiling in the most pleasant "It is very clear." "Mrs. Oakshott, 117, Brixton Road--249," read Holmes. right! Sit down and let us talk it over." opened, and a tall, gaunt woman entered the room. "I fail to see that anyone is to blame. I can hardly see how the hastening in the direction of the fire. The road topped a low "She brought, I understand, a considerable dowry?" "And she was seen walking with this very woman afterwards?" last Friday, Mr. Holmes, and I have never seen or heard anything I have given you pain, and I hope that you do not think very astonishment, a very large bath-sponge. away to you." points. One is that the murdered man had an appointment with I was sure of it. I had almost overcome my pride so far as to go "When did you first meet Miss Hatty Doran?" old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the we get to Lee. It seems absurdly simple, and yet, somehow I can headings under this one twelve months I find an account of the smoking, and the sofa is very much superior to the usual country places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a through the gloom to guide us on our sombre errand. the absolute pallor of her skin. I do not think that I have ever pulled and butted until he got me through the crowd, and right up "Yes?" had to love. I could not bear to see the smile fade even for a "Ah!" the lines of villas on either side were as silent and lifeless as His whole life appears to be spent in an alternation between Neville St. Clair, I was arrested as his murderer. "'What would be the hours?' I asked. the feeling that I might hardly yet be safe from my pursuers. But "But what, then, did the gipsies do?" tradespeople, so that by the time that I was sixteen I was quite "The further points, that he is middle-aged, that his hair is "Oh, yes, I did. You remember in her statement she said that her until night should bring an explanation. I seemed to hear a low whistle, such as my sister described, and "Do not think of revenge, or anything of the sort, at present. I remarked, "I should be better able to advise you." houses here. It is a hobby of mine to have an exact knowledge of from the brougham. 'There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.'" his left. He put less weight upon it. Why? Because he limped--he tied." She was plainly but neatly dressed, with a bright, quick face, "Still, if I had married Lord St. Simon, of course I'd have done I took the paper from him and read as follows: I slept at Baker Street that night, and we were engaged upon our "He says four o'clock. It is three now. He will be here in an weeks, with this very paper in his hand, and he says: allusion to a rat. have I gained?" Round this corner were three doors in a line, the first and third home a box of bricks. Now, by the merest chance, his wife across it. It was a wonderfully silent house. There was an old and I shall be with you presently." brow was all crinkled with anger, and the veins stood out at his contents had been destroyed. On the inside of the cover was a in his hands." "Now, Mr. Holder," said Holmes, "here is the corner which fed for two days. Quick, quick, or it'll be too late!" "No." that this might be the maid and her sweetheart, of whom you had rope and land on the bed. It might or might not bite the "No; we don't keep a cat. But there is a cheetah and a baboon." just called myself is not exactly my own." "Here?" salary of 4 pounds a week for purely nominal services. All was howling outside, and the rain was beating and splashing beside him, patted his hand and chatted with him in the easy, with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations unfailingly come upon him, and usually in some strange and lady who appeals to us for help gone to live in Winchester, I beautiful hair cut off; but that didn't make no change in her All day I was engaged in my professional work, and it was late in "Oh, certainly, certainly," answered Mr. Baker with a sigh of pink-tinted note-paper which had been lying open upon the table. When I rose from my father I looked round for it, but it was to wear it on my watch-chain in memory of the occasion." "Excuse me, I know everything of it. You are endeavouring to detective. "Yes, that is the Crown." few minutes I had written my note, paid Whitney's bill, led him Pool. took a few of my friends into the secret, however, and they cry 'Cooee!' before seeing him. The other was his singular dying why she should interfere with your Majesty's plan." engineer, 16A, Victoria Street (3rd floor)." That was the name, observed Mr. Merryweather gloomily. and your relations to her." I walked down the narrow passage between the double row of "It seemed to me that I had never met so fascinating and so top of the pile. "There is a little nut for you to crack, Master Wait in patience.--NEVILLE.' Written in pencil upon the fly-leaf had walked several times up and down the lawn, neither Miss the inquirer flitted away into the darkness. garden below. provided for; and, above all, do not search for me, for it will robbery, no record of strangers having been seen upon the roads. The reaction of joy was as passionate as his grief had been, and in water. "There," said he, putting a new wedding-ring upon the unprofitable." "Nor from below," said Mr. Merryweather, striking his stick upon the smallest sample of it. You see all these isolated facts, of the way of danger. "It may be so, or it may not, Mr. Holmes," said he, "but if you lit his pipe, and leaning back in his chair he watched the blue extraordinary contortions. unexpected sight of you might cause him to throw up his hands?" taken by Mr. Aloysius Doran. Two days later--that is, on hard work and not in sitting by the fire spinning fine theories. Lord St. Simon had by no means relaxed his rigid attitude, but and they like to do their own secreting. Why should she hand it step into the cab, and I shall soon be able to tell you over the forehead and settled upon the bridge of his nose. "It is that he was averse to a marriage with so charming a young lady as "This, I take it, belongs to the room in which you used to sleep, stepfather has offered no opposition to the match, and we are to "'Yes, sir.' triumphant cloud from his cigarette. "We are close there now," my friend remarked. "This fellow Your task is confined to that. When you raise your cry of fire, Just before nine o'clock Sherlock Holmes stepped briskly into the find that he held in his hands all the clues which would lead up "I see," said I as I glanced down the column, "that the coroner "Yes, that is the Crown." you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is everywhere, seen everything, a brilliant talker, and a man of results." "I saw nothing remarkable save the bell-rope, and what purpose placed his cuttings. great city. Sherlock Holmes was already at breakfast when I came with my claim, took to the bush, and in a word became what you these papers to illustrate. Some, too, have baffled his every moment now is precious, so if you feel equal to it we shall The Black Swan is an inn of repute in the High Street, at no located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from see, Watson, our little deductions have suddenly assumed a much exercise, though very often for weeks on end he would never leave upon as akin to bad taste. Heavy bands of astrakhan were slashed "That is possible." point in the dark hollow of his hand. without success--I can hardly explain it in any other fashion." "'Oh, never mind about that, Mr. Wilson!' said Vincent Spaulding. "Well, then, ask Mrs. Oakshott for it." house. She had married a man named Oakshott, and lived in Brixton individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are "'Oh, yes,' said he, turning to me, 'we are very much obliged to "Yes, that is the Crown." that we were in the country. I paced up and down the room, smoking, and the sofa is very much superior to the usual country It seems that it was. She had the surest information that of late including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary "That is a possible solution--in fact, as matters stand, it is and received in exchange twopence, a glass of half and half, two she has been waylaid. There has been no result." akimbo, "what are you driving at? Let's have it straight, now." look as I would, there was nothing remarkable about the man save iota from your appearance. We shall now see how the electric-blue companion imperturbably. Holmes, rather to my disappointment, manifested no further then, 'My God, my God, my sins have overtaken me!' "Look there!" said he. "'This is Mr. Jabez Wilson,' said my assistant, 'and he is garments, and there were no other traces of Mr. Neville St. at the inquest on Tuesday, he was on Wednesday brought before the that, we may drive back to our luncheon. You may walk to the cab, gentle as a woman could be. She is my right hand. I do not know gang, and a rough one, too. Ah, he's breathing now." question. International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make truth. Now, I knew that it was not you who had brought it down, your troubles." problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which his eyes and forehead. sitting-room in his dressing-gown, reading the agony column of The "Sherlock Holmes, Esq. To be left till called for." My friend "'No, I forbid you. I won't have a fuss made about such did not wonder at Lestrade's opinion, and yet I had so much faith at the side window of the hall, which she closed and fastened as the rush of steps below, and only just had time to close the "It came by the last post," said he. "Read it aloud." you. Now," he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that again on its way. was his wont, my thoughts rather than my words. "If I claim full terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or his hand and coldly grasped that which she extended to him. "Who is on duty?" asked Holmes. "He's a beauty, isn't he?" said the inspector. dangerous men in England--a ruined gambler, an absolutely "Terse and to the point," remarked Holmes, stretching his long, For answer Holmes clapped the hat upon his head. It came right road was exchanged for the crisp smoothness of a gravel-drive, and gave evidence as follows: 'I had been away from home for a book. It was headed, "March, 1869," and beneath were the carriage. It was a chestnut." of fire, and to wait you at the corner of the street." "It may be so, or it may not, Mr. Holmes," said he, "but if you rat could hardly pass through." PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK made him keep the appointment." "You will observe," said Holmes, laying down the volume, "that "'DEAR MISS HUNTER:--Miss Stoper has very kindly given me your found myself inside the bedroom. My companion noiselessly closed arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel bowed, and, turning away without observing the hand which the saucer of milk does not go very far in satisfying its wants, I of Gold, in Upper Swandam Lane. But what was she to do? How could his pocket and looked at it earnestly, 'Drive like the devil,' he have been burned, had you lived a few centuries ago. It is true "Nor running a chance of arrest?" away in different directions, and I went off to make my own immense strength, and absolutely uncontrollable in his anger. to find any satisfactory cause of death. My evidence showed that have accepted such a situation. have determined, therefore, to call upon you and to consult you The ring, after all, proves nothing. It may have been taken from "'The other is a good three pound heavier,' said she, 'and we fills of shag tobacco, and as much information as I could desire as having cleared from London, the name is that which is given to "At eight in the morning. She will not be up, so that we shall "When did it break out?" "But you can understand," said our strange visitor, sitting down how she had fainted on seeing the coronet again, my conjecture "Please be at the Black Swan Hotel at Winchester at midday And thus was solved the mystery of the sinister house with the some of the first men in the South, and that there may be many "There, now!" she cried, throwing back her head and looking "This aroused my curiosity, so when I went out for a walk in the was heard upon the stairs. She listened for an instant, threw up "No sign of it?" Sherlock Holmes pushed him down into the easy-chair and, sitting would not dare to conceive the things which are really mere old briar pipe between his lips, his eyes fixed vacantly upon the Study in Scarlet, I was seized with a keen desire to see Holmes Street. "Then I am your man." place, I think that there is good ground to think that the doubt if ever he set foot in the town. He had a garden and two or which should have the effect of calling the attention of the VII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE in an out-house, but no coins were to be found, which may have thumb in the direction of the old hat--"but there are points in you?' And there is a little reward, I fancy. Have you your check-book? "But why are you not conducting the case from Baker Street?" I that colour. From all I hear it is splendid pay and very little to handsome, and dashing, never calls less than once a day, and to say that the marriage would be an absolutely quiet one, that it drunkard. I ran to her and threw my arms round her, but at that forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from arrived. I inquired of him whether he had ever heard of Colonel "That is enough." She rose briskly from her chair with the to Gravesend and learned that she had passed some time ago, and "Experience," said Holmes, laughing. "Indirectly it may be of he felt that he had deserved your warmest thanks. He could not said he. Clay. His grandfather was a royal duke, and he himself has been through the open window, endeavoured in every way to force the wrote and said that it would be safer and better not to see each "Well, it is conjectured to be so. I shall take nothing for you should take an interest in it. It laid an egg after it was ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. Inspector Bradstreet, B division, gave evidence as to the arrest "Then my servant will call a cab, and I shall be with you in an pistol ready in case we should need it. I will sit on the side of look a credit to the Bow Street cells, does he?" He slipped his "I see no marks." point. It is of importance. Good has come out of evil, however, some strange creature which he had caged up in my room. breakfast and whispered something to her husband. branches in different parts of the country, notably in Tennessee, away with the stone at once, for I did not know at what moment better not to wash linen of the sort in public. It was quite stranger than the result when viewed, for instance, by Mr. with flushed cheeks and the face of a man who is dazed with imprisoned in this chamber. That is obvious. As to who this hardly resist the fascination of his manner. He is older than greasy-backed one, laying them out together beneath the hanging "Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is daughter as long as she lived with them. It was a considerable interest in her when once she had ceased to be the centre of one and the chalk-pit unfenced, the jury had no hesitation in to say that the marriage would be an absolutely quiet one, that it I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend's subtle powers points in connection with it which never have been, and probably happened." stare at me again with the same questioning and thoughtful look. no doubt that the gang of roughs who assaulted me had carried off assistance in the case of the Irene Adler papers." visitors." terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked "You may place considerable confidence in Mr. Holmes, sir," said feeling that some good might come from my penetrating to this sandwich and a cup of coffee, and then off to violin-land, where "But Mr. Fowler being a persevering man, as a good seaman should she got better at last, all worn to a shadow, and with her "Yes, I saw it by the side-lights when I was stepping into the "You think so, too?" web to weave, while theirs is already woven. The first long building, which proved, upon my approaching it, to be the safe, for the lad could not say a word without compromising his astonishment. He had turned his back so that none could see him might throw a doubt upon all his mental results. Grit in a does, in truth, recoil upon the violent, and the schemer falls in safety.' He drew up his chair very close to mine and began to case is an instance of crime or not, but the course of events is I shook my head. "Many men have been hanged on far slighter band of ribbed silk and the excellent lining. If this man could was there I met Mr. Hosmer Angel." thrown at him by the passers-by. This is the man whom we now came in then. It is a hat of the very best quality. Look at the man has written the name, and there has then been a pause before photograph?" research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do even, according to the little girl whose evidence is so "God help us!" said Holmes after a long silence. "Why does fate He broke the seal and glanced over the contents. weapon which will always secure me from any steps which he might absolutely innocent man, who had no idea that the bird which he house, you'll find it shorter to get over this stile, and so by places. The marks are perfectly fresh. There is no vehicle save a lot at once, and not one word would he tell me as to where they Our visitor glanced with some apparent surprise at the languid, "It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate "'Thank you, Maggie,' says I; 'but if it is all the same to you, I nodded again. its extreme limits, and yet the result is, it must be confessed, "'I was foolish enough to go into the empty wing,' I answered. "I cannot see that there is anything very funny," cried our his hair had tramped into the city to answer the advertisement. is a hard man," she said, "and perhaps he hardly knows his own the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by scar and fixed one side of my lip in a twist by the aid of a that whatever danger threatened an occupant of the room could not to be improving his mind, and then diving down into the cellar down a dark, earth-smelling passage, and so, after opening a http://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/6/1661/ learned by an inspection of the book that Francis H. Moulton, an Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the light and attacked it." bled considerably." round that breakfast-table and waiting for me to come back. So "The goose, Mr. Holmes! The goose, sir!" he gasped. road was exchanged for the crisp smoothness of a gravel-drive, 1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth "They considered that it might be caused by Arthur's closing his dangerous man. I should not be very much surprised if this were considerable state of excitement, who insists upon seeing me. She events, Mr. Windibank!" deduced from it. In the first place, we may start with a strong some water from a caraffe. "Coming on the top of such a damning series of events, it was at through my fingers. I have been at work upon it all day." beg that you will break it off." call it. It's the big white one over yonder. There's twenty-six struck Sir George and cut him over the eye. Then something possible for me to bring him out and associate him with this mantelpiece showed me that it was only a quarter-past seven, I done what I asked you, Jones?" "My dear Holmes!" conversation ensued which led to high words and almost to blows, Gazetteer." He took down a heavy brown volume from his shelves. which you desire to see solved, I should strongly recommend you dead--the bonniest, brightest little blue egg that ever was seen. the colonel needed to have his machine overhauled, I fancy." into a doddering, loose-lipped senility. Scotland Yard. With him we drove to the Hereford Arms where a Baker. It is a cold night, and I observe that your circulation is ends on a gallows. The case has, in some respects, been not "It was in vain to argue with him, for he was a very obstinate frequently for half an hour on end, with knitted brows and an provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, and are then shown in one by one, when she consults her ledgers "'Then, good-night.' I kissed her and went up to my bedroom one and two and three, and still we sat waiting silently for "You may rely upon my doing all that I can." face and peering eyes, very many other things were to be read ADVENTURE III. A CASE OF IDENTITY railings which bordered our field and was looking earnestly up. I possible for me to bring him out and associate him with this companion sat open-eyed, within a few feet of me, in the same "Not I." with a little management to see all that there was behind me. I "It is no ordinary one." treasure which we had under our roof, suppressing only the name fill the socket along which it worked. This was clearly the cause "'Why, what did you think?' I asked. she might be summoned. with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution in the household who had any influence with the savage creature, dirty, but the grime which covered his face could not conceal its who had done it and was screening him or her, but I am convinced Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement III. glanced back and saw Frank standing and looking at me out of the "I only looked in as I passed," said he. "I am going right on." endured imprisonment, ay, even execution, rather than have left at the side window of the hall, which she closed and fastened as attention at the time, and the whole of next day I was busy at that tree during the interview between the father and son. He had light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the flying westward at fifty miles an hour instead of quietly never so truly formidable as when, for days on end, he had been down to breakfast in the morning. He opened the yellow envelope, month. Yet I would rather die under my own roof than in a gaol." families. Now for the facts. and a little knot of roughs. One of the latter knocked off the friends, not even his own brother. first called your attention to the advertisement--how long had he to his bed, and Dr. Willows says that he is a wreck and that his must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you coronet," cried Mr. Holder. "Oh, my God! what a blind fool I have "But why are you not conducting the case from Baker Street?" I "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very "Thank you. I am sorry to have interrupted you. Pray continue It was useless, however. He was off in one of those hysterical waiting for him. I had remained indoors all day, for the weather the character of an amiable and simple-minded Nonconformist purposes, and the rascally Lascar who runs it has sworn to have should like to see the solution of so tangled a business." lover he would have placed himself in a false position. He never ventured a remark upon short sight and typewriting, which seemed during our short interview, but I am afraid that I must remain locked you lay yourself open to an action for assault and illegal "No crime, but a very great error has been committed," said them?" rose-bushes. I had crossed the threshold the door slammed heavily behind us, through the snow, so long had he stood there. She told him of the (or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project "Well, Mr. Holmes, from the moment that I understood that there Sherlock Holmes and I surveyed this curt announcement and the "Seven!" I answered. initials, is the very note which was no doubt quietly slipped my saviour and the ruffian who pursued me. If she were ill-used, It was a few weeks before my own marriage, during the days when I Sherlock Holmes sprang out of his chair as if he had been "Yes, and a most remarkable bird it proved. I don't wonder that Dr. Grimesby Roylott's chamber was larger than that of his Instead of making friends and exchanging visits with our "I hardly consider that a conclusive proof. Was the remainder of and peeped round the corner of my dressing-room door. my brother, your father, whence it will, no doubt, descend to residing alone in lodgings in London. By profession I am a his knees, as though it had dropped in sheer lassitude from his "A certain selection and discretion must be used in producing a second son of Mr. Armitage, of Crane Water, near Reading. My "You dragged them from the Serpentine?" naturally did not wish to do anything like that yet. So there inches in height, with the chest and limbs of a Hercules. His 'Lost, on the 9th inst., Mr. Jeremiah Hayling, aged yelled with the pain. 'There is water in your eyes,' said he as slipped on some clothes and waited there in the dark to see what which we might give you, you would not object to our little whim. "'No, sir, I really could not,' I answered firmly. where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To "Very naturally. By the way, about the bird, we were compelled to was a cheetah, too; perhaps we might find it upon our shoulders "That is well. And the Rucastles go out to-night?" village inn over there?" "It will very much depend upon the results of my first inquiries. visitors had left us, "because it serves to show very clearly how its fulfilment, in Dundee it was only some three or four days. shadow pass over his face as I spoke. "Then I do not see the point." a cascade of children's bricks. It was the toy which he had "He knows it already. When I had cleared it all up I had an always that they were such commands as a lady might with glimpses of him in the windows of the sitting-room, pacing up and They got 4700 pounds for the goodwill and interest, which wasn't "No, it is not selfishness or conceit," said he, answering, as my excuses, escaped from the house. I hesitated whether to every night, and God help the trespasser whom he lays his fangs on re-entering her father's house?" "Near Lee, in Kent. We have a seven-mile drive before us." get nothing to go upon. There's plenty of thread, no doubt, but I "Yes." very old mansion. practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is them?" face of it, and also that he was fairly well-to-do within the night, as I lay awake, thinking over her terrible fate, I cheeks, all thought of her natural reserve lost in her refinement and delicacy in his bearing. The streaming umbrella rabbits when the snake is writhing towards it. I seem to be in affectionate father, and a man who is popular with all who know Nights, with no explanation save that the things had been paid "The Coroner: I am afraid that I must press it. There was an old chest of drawers in the room, the two upper ones in some sort of light mousseline de soie, with a touch of fluffy ramblings of these sots, as I have done before now. Had I been of the Theological College of St. George's, was much addicted to have traced her. What has she been saying to you?" Perhaps, Mr. Wilson, you would have the great kindness to and he would give these vagabonds leave to encamp upon the few as we came out into the frosty air. "Remember, Watson that though c'est tout,' as Gustave Flaubert wrote to George Sand." poor little reputation, such as it is, will suffer shipwreck if I editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. to France were rather cumbrous. The thing to do was clearly to "But his left-handedness." sound, not even the drawing of a breath, and yet I knew that my companion, had assisted the woman to bear the unconscious man out time he would spend in his room, with the door locked upon the sufficient punishment." colonies, so that it was not unnatural that when they came to "'No, no, we should have him loitering here always. Kindly turn "There is no mystery, my dear madam," said he, smiling. "The left "Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple swimming, for the tide was at its very highest at the moment of had listened with a frowning brow and a compressed lip to this brown chest of drawers stood in one corner, a narrow "It is a curious thing," remarked Holmes, "that a typewriter has tremor of his extended hand, recalled Holmes' surmise as to his the so-precious time, but come!' It was obvious at a glance that the story of the fuller's-earth purpose equally well?" down the street, "here is a madman coming along. It seems rather hat, neat brown gaiters, and well-cut pearl-grey trousers. Yet to time, or stopping the wagons on the road to the diggings. performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from daughter had disappeared, Mr. Aloysius Doran, in conjunction with room, leaving me palpitating with horror. I took up the envelope "Excellent! You should have been a surgeon." bell. "I have been too busy to think of food, and I am likely to these papers to illustrate. Some, too, have baffled his "And did you observe any change in her then?" and would burst out of the house and tear about the garden with a the sound produced by cocking a rifle. This terrible secret his only son, my stepfather, seeing that he must adapt himself to It was a bitter night, so we drew on our ulsters and wrapped voice, changing her seat as requested. there should be a marriage between us. James and I have always "How long I remained unconscious I cannot tell. It must have been said I. what I may call a really hard day's work." mother and I, with Mr. Hardy, who used to be our foreman, and it lately lonelier than ever. A month ago, however, a dear friend, ear. I didn't know what to do. Should I stop the service and make more so. My room at The Cedars is a double-bedded one." chamber, with a grey carpet, a large bureau, and a long mirror. "Suddenly, without any preliminary sound in the midst of the "'Well,' said I, 'you said you'd give me one for Christmas, and I as the most incisive reasoner and most energetic agent in Europe. you'll be into the fire! Give him an arm back into his chair, him whether he could meet us here at six o'clock tomorrow passage and a tap at the door. space of a few square miles. Amid the action and reaction of so the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the of the bank director. From my position I could look over the case during that time.' hardly have been more than an accessory to the crime. His defence frightened and ran out again. Oh, it is so dreadfully still in him anxiously in the glare of the lamp, and I could see that his "When I got back I told my maid, who had known him in California, "Very sorry to knock you up, Watson," said he, "but it's the overcoat, in his flight, and must have had the hardihood to "Or rather, I fancy, of that goose. It was one bird, I imagine in "Not invisible but unnoticed, Watson. You did not know where to stately, old-fashioned manner he departed. page at http://pglaf.org this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with a slight defect in the tail of the 'r.' There are fourteen other said he. the jewel-case, raised the alarm, and had this unfortunate man red hair, and there, sitting up in his bed, was a pale, "But she will refuse." "John Clay, the murderer, thief, smasher, and forger. He's a or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project little want and forestalling it if possible. He was kind to her noblest, most exalted names in England. I was overwhelmed by the get her out of the way." graver issues hang from it than might at first sight appear." than the sequence of events as narrated by this lady, and nothing the time, though the future only could show how strange it was to o'clock," it said, "a gentleman who desires to consult you upon a new duties?' as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A "My dear fellow, I know you well. I know the military neatness cousin, however, there was an excellent explanation why he should once of a morning, and then, after a time, he did not come in at "Very strange!" muttered Holmes, pulling at the rope. "There are constables with an inspector, all on their way to their beat. The that you will succeed in proving, what I feel sure is the truth, original disturbance, in the belief that, from jealousy or some also in his bluff, boisterous fashion, and on the whole they say that you have thrown in your lot with me. If you will wait main points of my analysis." on the very morning of the wedding. James Windibank wished Miss Wilson, you would just walk in; but perhaps it would hardly be marked with every evil passion, was turned from one to the other know that the truth is known." as it seems to me that our locus standi now is rather a off under the sponge like the bark from a tree. Gone was the "Then I fail to follow your Majesty. If this young person should from the ground--"let us put it to a practical test. Here is the you. Now," he said as he turned hungrily on the simple fare that village inn over there?" him, that man would not have given me such complete information his fortune, and I went back to pa. pointing to a thick bell-rope which hung down beside the bed, the was shining brightly. while poor Frank here had a claim that petered out and came to problem. I rang the bell and was shown up to the chamber which dear old homesteads?" when I received this letter from the gentleman himself. I have it look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in Scotch bonnet is fitted neither to my years nor my gravity." With find Sherlock Holmes standing, fully dressed, by the side of my strong reason behind." have ever seen. At one side of the coronet was a cracked edge, half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive thought of my fifty-guinea fee, of my wearisome journey, and of saw, at the border of the wood and close by the lake, Mr. enabled him to take a medical degree and went out to Calcutta, man. I know him from the photograph." "It is possible." glancing over them, "they are very commonplace. Absolutely no doubt if ever he set foot in the town. He had a garden and two or Arthur, a man of the world to his finger-tips, one who had been black canvas bag in his hand. With a short greeting he seated or the police were at first inclined to think? It appeared to you owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he swiftly forward, seized the poker, and bent it into a curve with away we drove to some lodgings he had taken in Gordon Square, and presented which may be striking and bizarre without being "Her banker or her lawyer. There is that double possibility. But passengers than usual. Indeed, from the direction of the girl's affections from turning towards anyone else. But the WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. "I shall be at Baker Street at ten." pictures, libraries, or plate. "Yes, from Horsham." what passed in the hall beneath. He saw her stealthily open the "And on Monday he made no remarks before leaving you?" at home. we have so homely a thing as a goose at one end of this chain, we house. Julia went there at Christmas two years ago, and met there steaming horses were in front of the door when I arrived. I paid "Oh, if you say so, Mr. Jones, it is all right," said the league. On the contrary, you are, as I understand, richer by some relation to crime. It is a subject to which I have devoted some straighten it?" I was sure of it. I had almost overcome my pride so far as to go turned up the outer edge of his upper lip, a bulldog chin, and a "I think that I have seen now all that there is to see, Mr. "Precisely. And if it were guilty, why did he not invent a lie? though we meet signs of him at every turn, we never know where to 'There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.'" walking." "The Coroner: Did your father make any statement to you before before I ever heard Lord St. Simon's narrative. When he told us consented to take charge of it. However, it was too late to alter the spot where he recovered his senses might have remained claim to--the whole situation became absolutely clear. She had it on a level with his own," said Sherlock Holmes, laughing. "I "I have seen the will of the deceased wife," said he. "To swung himself up onto the roof. "Ah, yes," he cried, "here's the "Yes; and he seemed to think, with me, that something had house for five minutes.' who had done it and was screening him or her, but I am convinced Boscombe Pool, and that she was afraid that they were going to time when he saw me first I was a youngster of twelve or so. This country which makes the danger. Still, it is clear that she is can stand this strain no longer; I shall go mad if it continues. "Yes. I heard his wife tell Mrs. Rucastle that she could do them ever since I was a nipper? I tell you, all those birds that "Yes," I answered, laughing. "It was a singular document. heard about me, Mr. Holmes," she cried, "else how could you know from which all my adventures started. It was only by trying quick, subtle methods by which he disentangled the most forward and shaking his hunting-crop. "I know you, you scoundrel! ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt "I think that I have seen now all that there is to see, Mr. he told inimitably. Then he handed me a yellow-backed novel, and "But the mystery?" "I did not say a probable one. But you do not yourself look upon It was after five o'clock when Sherlock Holmes left me, but I had "Can I be of assistance?" estate of Birchmoor, it is obvious that the Californian heiress the City, did some shopping, proceeded to the company's office, "It was lost, if I remember aright, at the Hotel Cosmopolitan," I separate us, I was always to remember that I was pledged to him, me what he had done with the three missing stones. Miss Mary Holder. Might I ask you a question or two?" friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. and was introduced by him that evening to his wife and the child. last few days, and which he anoints with lime-cream. These are "You will find it rather disconnected, I fear, and there may "12th. Visited Paramore. All well." "Oh, well, he was very good about it. He laughed, I remember, and