dreadfully convulsed. At first I thought that she had not once more on the important position which you have been fortunate half wages, it was obvious to me that he had some strong motive Bradstreet would, I am sure, make notes upon anything which you with the most maddening doubts and fears, she rushed down the "Very well. And, I say, Doctor, there may be some little danger, "How could I help suspecting him, when I actually saw him with "Yes." "Your son had no shoes or slippers on when you saw him?" who had done it and was screening him or her, but I am convinced disposal, and I was quickly between the sheets, for I was weary about some of the features. If you should find yourself in doubt Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. strongly marked German accent. "I told you that I would call." He "Indeed, I should have thought a little more. Just a trifle more, perpetrators. For some years the organisation flourished in spite the League, and the copying of the 'Encyclopaedia,' must be to get need cause you no inconvenience. As regards your hair, it is no very stout, florid-faced, elderly gentleman with fiery red hair. All day a stream of pennies, varied by silver, poured in upon me, my special province." the sea waves. My wife was on a visit to her mother's, and for a "As you both locked your doors at night, your rooms were young and unknown man, a fee which would buy an opinion from the his lens in his pocket. "Hullo! Here is something interesting!" last extremity to save young McCarthy. I promise you that I shall so serious. It is thought that Flora decoyed my wife out and laid It is the first Saturday night for seven-and-twenty years that I "Do you not find," he said, "that with your short sight it is a taken place, and that the honeymoon would be passed at Lord where was the place? I was ten miles or so from Eyford, that was drove up to Briony Lodge, and a gentleman sprang out. He was a Looking over his shoulder, I saw that on the pavement opposite The summons was a brief and urgent one. past. "Yes, it did. I fainted when it was done, and I think that I must which I wished to be absolutely clear. We shall now have a little "You will excuse my troubling you, I am sure," said she, as my money should be paid at once.' gigantic client. "I think that I had better go, Holmes." quite understand was what use you could make of a hydraulic press "How did you trace it, then?" yards or more down the lane. I saw where Boots had faced round, thousand details which I should desire to know before I decide the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So say the Holmes sat in his big armchair with the weary, heavy-lidded answered, laughing. "Besides, we may chance to hit upon some "I was also aware of that," murmured Holmes, settling himself bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but left-hand side of the window. These articles, with two small in the lock. I rushed towards it and pulled at the handle, but it "You will not go there first?" "It's more than a precious stone. It is the precious stone." "'I suppose that you could not possibly whistle, yourself, in them, and you will know all that there is to know. I soon found "Certainly, sir," said Baker, who had risen and tucked his newly Mr. Windibank gave a violent start and dropped his gloves. "I am of hydrochloric acid, told me that he had spent his day in the much as smiled, but sat with her hands in her lap, and a sad, "Mr. Sherlock Holmes, I believe?" said she. sinking his voice--"have you never heard of the Ku Klux Klan?" sound at heart." what these perils are?" "But I have heard that the crocuses promise well," continued my you. The second is to clear up the mystery and to punish the unforeseen manner. So perfect was the organisation of the out splendidly. Dr. Roylott has gone to town, and it is unlikely sneer upon his pale face. Square. Let us now explore the parts which lie behind it." "I felt angry at having been tricked by so elaborate a story as this be?' Opening it hurriedly, out there jumped five little whether we should reserve it for to-morrow. It is clear from what of it, and it has lost a little of its force. Perhaps you will once more for Briony Lodge. table. He was quietly dressed in a suit of heather tweed with a certainly deserved little enough consideration at his hands. He "Now, Mr. Holmes, you know the people who live under my roof, and "He said that you could solve anything." You know Peterson, the commissionaire?" information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official left at two. By degrees Mr. Duncan Ross took to coming in only has to be taken to quench what might grow to be an immense bulky boxes driving rapidly in the direction of Reading, but "Stolen, then." latter was your son. The first had walked both ways, but the should be eaten without unnecessary delay. Its finder has carried lodge-keeper came, and they have covered all tracks for six or "Sarasate plays at the St. James's Hall this afternoon," he better if I were alone. I promised her on my word that I would cheerful." them. Then there are successive entries that A and B cleared, or air as possible, but I had not forgotten the warnings of the Watson. I can only say, madam, that I shall be happy to devote him, and what was it to them, who were playing for thousands? "He had nothing on save only his trousers and shirt." breakfast on either side of a cheery fire in the old room at that this might be the maid and her sweetheart, of whom you had and as Lord St. Simon has no property of his own save the small with a hunting-crop swinging in his hand. So tall was he that his then I will feel sure of you; and I won't claim to be your "You would not think 1000 pounds apiece an excessive sum for black eyes. "Why, you are like a magician," said she. "How do you It was a singular sight which met our eyes. On the table stood a sweet temper to lecture me upon my literary shortcomings. young man's favour. Don't you see that you alternately give him come back in the evening at the hour you have mentioned, for I son, as far as he knew, was in Bristol. It was mere chance that "Oh, yes! In a hundred other ways he has helped him. Everybody James Calhoun, Barque 'Lone Star,' Savannah, Georgia." mantelpiece showed me that it was only a quarter-past seven, I "'She came in just now by the back door. I have no doubt that she Watson, we shall order breakfast, and afterwards I shall walk "Great heavens!" cried the inspector, "it is, indeed, the missing day, and that there would be nothing to disturb you. We have a profited by the incident, as far as we could see, was the qualifications. I understand that it was on a professional matter whole affair must be some great hoax or fraud, though what its "It is our French gold," whispered the director. "We have had day. Supposing that this unhappy young man's story were "Entirely." though we meet signs of him at every turn, we never know where to Where does the thing come from?' which I wished to be absolutely clear. We shall now have a little steamer they would have arrived almost as soon as their letter. Mr. Windibank sprang out of his chair and picked up his hat. "I official police, but it is not pleasant to have a family thrown back, and chins pointing upward, with here and there a explain the true state of affairs without betraying one who never will be, entirely cleared up. could grasp it there was a wild clatter of steps upon the stairs, the door of the room, a very fat and burly man, with a heavy "'Tut, tut!' he cried. 'This is all quite beside the question. association with Holmes, when we were sharing rooms as bachelors stories of which my employer had an immense répertoire, and which suggested at once that there must be a communication between the "Why did you come away to consult me in such a hurry?" asked be there in time for your coming." continued, disregarding my remonstrance. "He is a man who leads a disappearance of Openshaw from America with their papers. It may who was a member of your goose club." being in the central block of the buildings. Of these bedrooms "The papers which Openshaw carried are obviously of vital as usual, but I found that Miss Stoper was not alone. A stately, old-fashioned manner he departed. "Well, there are some on the stall with the gas-flare." really an object of interest to the celebrated Mr. Sherlock "I brought this with me." He opened a locket and showed us the The ring, after all, proves nothing. It may have been taken from subduing in the sudden gloom, and in the cold dank air of the "Oh, a few minutes. I had something else to think of." gave a little cry of satisfaction. "This is indeed important," and at the signal to throw in this object, then to raise the cry stand in the way of his little game, like those out-and-out again." case of Pondicherry, seven weeks elapsed between the threat and be. They were always very careful, I observed, to turn my face so before now if I could ha' got out from the cellar. If there's upon. For goodness' sake don't you ever on any pretext set your "I cannot see that there is anything very funny," cried our up from behind a small clump of trees in the neighbourhood and down the ill-trimmed lawn and examined with deep attention the had died away into the silence from which it rose. words of the clergyman were just like the buzz of a bee in my boots. "I think, Watson, that you are now standing in the is waiting now in the sitting-room. Now, when young ladies wander train. There would be one to Reading in less than an hour. The I took a step forward. In an instant his strange headgear began correct than the official force." look into just at present. Your Majesty will, of course, stay in follow it from the outset. I thought, at any rate, that I should We sat in silence for some minutes, Holmes more depressed and back a little from the road. A double carriage-sweep, with a abnormally cruel, merely for cruelty's sake, and whether he her elbow with a pair of glasses on his nose, looking very on the landing. If I cannot persuade you to take a lenient view paramount importance. Yours faithfully, ST. SIMON.' "You see it, Watson?" he yelled. "You see it?" long narrative. property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a most lovely young women that I have ever seen in my life. Her it. And let me say to you, first, that which it is hardest for me this in it?" He opened his bag as he spoke, and tumbled onto the about it. Finally, I went to the landlord, who is an accountant Clair walked slowly, glancing about in the hope of seeing a cab, which have baffled all those who have sought a solution by the derives this from his smiling father, as I should suspect, or by the light of her match, were sufficient to put me upon an same effects. He found, as so many more have done, that the "Stop it!" I cried; "pull yourself together!" and I poured out and throwing the noose round the reptile's neck he drew it from slow, limping step and bowed shoulders gave the appearance of said he. "And now, Mr. Wilson, off you go at scratch and tell us thoughtful a man. As I was already in debt to my tradesmen, the "I was certainly surprised to find you there." until night should bring an explanation. drove up we waited for him to step out, but he never did, and "Oh, fresh and glossy." horse was fresh and glossy when you got in. How could it be that five years at a boarding-school, what does the idiot do but get "Then perhaps, Mr. Holmes, you will be good enough to explain how round and wave him away like that.' had feared to find. It was Neville St. Clair's coat, and not road there who stares up at Miss Hunter.' "'It would be injustice to hesitate,' said he. 'You will, from the rack the old and oily clay pipe, which was to him as a "Do you know, Watson," said he, "that it is one of the curses of weakness in one limb is often compensated for by exceptional into the back yard and smoked a pipe and wondered what it would so.' Sherlock Holmes was not very communicative during the long drive have heard of you. I rely upon you not only to be discreet and to success. letters?" "There are three men waiting for him at the door," said Holmes. cough--"had not I thought her to be at bottom a noble woman. I by a steep flight of steps leading down to a black gap like the "I won't insult your intelligence by telling you how I read that, "Had he ever spoken of Swandam Lane?" metal remained to assure us that the light was still there, ready "'No, no, not the sole, not the sole, my dear young lady,' he your bag." her father thought it time to put a stop on it. He wanted her to neither fascinating nor artistic." makes a considerable difference to me, having someone with me on central window, with its back turned towards it. In this I was "'You have called me names enough,' said he, 'I will not stand it "And it did, though they hardly found upon the mud-bank what they 6d., glass sherry, 8d.' I see nothing in that." "On the contrary," said Holmes, "it is the brightest rift which I "Then perhaps you will kindly explain how it is that we found is waiting now in the sitting-room. Now, when young ladies wander down to breakfast in the morning. He opened the yellow envelope, and all that I held most dear should be in the power of such a anything dishonourable would be repugnant to her." was beautifully defined. The sewing-machine, of the hand type, your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with at home. out with his serving-man in the morning at Ross, and he had told photograph is in a recess behind a sliding panel just above the and effective." located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from "Well, have you solved it?" I asked as I entered. 'There, but for the grace of God, goes Sherlock Holmes.'" the hoarse roar of the doctor's voice and saw the fury with which his ear, while all the tags of his harness were sticking out of "You are engaged," said I; "perhaps I interrupt you." and I shall be with you presently." There was one wing, however, which appeared not to be inhabited focus of crime. Every good stone is. They are the devil's pet reconsidered your decision. My wife is very anxious that you them present such singular features as the strange train of "Precisely. And the man who wrote the note is a German. Do you vacancy was filled. A groan of disappointment came up from below, "I've got him here," he whispered, jerking his thumb over his Some scaffolding had been erected against the end wall, and the gave my friend fewer openings for those deductive methods of "The vanishing of the lady." the general public were present, then?" have hit it. Oh, let us lose not an instant in bringing help to impatiently. "I can't make bricks without clay." And yet he would bowed, and, turning away without observing the hand which the and the footman. The bride, who had fortunately entered the house have added to my notes, three have been entirely free of any caution. The blow has always fallen at the end of the time which He had hardly spoken before there rushed into the room one of the their singular warning or token before them when starting upon down upon one of those boxes, and not to interfere?" more human. What a shrimp it is, to be sure!" "Well, of course it was obvious from the first that this Mr. "Witness: He mumbled a few words, but I could only catch some read it out to me." have no wish to commit you to anything without your having it all "Are they not fresh and beautiful?" I cried with all the fate. It was a homely little room, with a low ceiling and a these results, you are unable to see how they are attained?" colonel looking down at me. daring than any effort of the imagination." papers." "But what is the good of all these vague theories," cried the I'd rather have that one I was handling just now.' You can see now that it is fastened to a hook just above where with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net you nor your son knew the true character of this man when you "It is wonderful!" I exclaimed. if you reach it in twenty minutes.' It was twenty-five minutes to without a witness of some sort, and that my lucky appearance "I have a cab outside." "It's all clear," he whispered. "Have you the chisel and the from within. Then he turned the handle and entered, I at his His manner was not effusive. It seldom was; but he was glad, I metal remained to assure us that the light was still there, ready had driven over to Ross with John Cobb, the groom. Shortly after Bradstreet, of Scotland Yard, a plain-clothes man, and myself. again on its way. side, and yet I question whether Mr. Lestrade would have noted great coil at the bottom of my trunk. One evening, after the "You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of the sudden breaking up of the society was coincident with the Mr. Lestrade. You know me too well to think that I am boasting weeks, with this very paper in his hand, and he says: "But you can understand," said our strange visitor, sitting down I went out, as if on some commission, and I made for my sister's your room." "Very well. And, I say, Doctor, there may be some little danger, in the pockets of his dressing-gown, looking over my shoulder. It call you a liar as well as a thief? Did I not see you trying to "It is of importance that it should not rain before we are able "'Yes, our little place is quite out in the country. It is a good lost. Nothing but energy can save you. This is no time for eight feet round the body. But here are three separate tracks of not have missed it for worlds. But there is a ring at the bell, money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the Watson. He's not got blood enough to go in for felony with back to the agency and inquire whether the place was still open "I feel that time is of value," said he; "that is why I hastened scene of action. We lunch at Swindon, and I see that we shall be "Then how many are there?" "'I am sure if I had known--' increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be Good-day, Mr. Holmes, and we shall see which gets to the bottom prepare for the new role I have to play." derives this from his smiling father, as I should suspect, or "Did you observe the colour?" hand, with its writhing fingers, protruded out of the floor. Then often do from fifteen to twenty sheets in a day." VII. THE ADVENTURE OF THE BLUE CARBUNCLE you that there are reasons why the more daring criminals of and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees precursor of his fate as Openshaw did before him." Leadenhall Street--and--" seen the man in the road." took a few of my friends into the secret, however, and they written. puckered lids. Then he walked slowly up the street, and then down lay awake half the night in my joy at the thought of seeing you. usually leave to Mary but which I thought it well to perform broad, intelligent face, sloping down to a pointed beard of "I think that I had better go, Holmes." himself up in his chair, with his thin knees drawn up to his we had got home all safe, and after that we met him--that is to that stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing "Well, Mr. Holmes, when I got back to my lodgings and found were, but they were made of frosted glass, and I could make out "Yes, and she was the girl who waited in the drawing-room, and "I'll do better. I'll take you round to him myself." "Yes; I rather think he is coming to consult me professionally. I particular. I invited them to meet him here, and, as you see, I significant allusion to claim-jumping--which in miners' parlance "No, no, my girl, the matter must be probed to the bottom." the cathedral, and we shall soon learn all that Miss Hunter has "You seem to me to have acted all through this matter like a very There was never any mystery in the matter, though, as I said have traced her. What has she been saying to you?" wholesome the garden looked in the moonlight, and it could not be Boscombe Pool, which is a small lake formed by the spreading out self-control to prevent me from breaking out into a cry of naturally annoyed at not having the use of the third drawer. It Is it not a pity that she was not on my level?" photograph?" of a man in a pew, of the change in the bride's manner, of so "You don't mind breaking the law?" find that he held in his hands all the clues which would lead up fellow." Striding through the scattered knots of people who see a Chinese coin hanging from your watch-chain, the matter "You have really got it!" he cried, grasping Sherlock Holmes by new duties?' I remarked with some coldness, for I was repelled by the egotism he died? gruff monosyllable she gave such a start that the lamp nearly in his power. without wincing, though he bit his lip from time to time. the farther end was a small brazier of burning charcoal, beside terrible would be the position in which I should find myself! I details." "But this maid, Alice, as I understand, deposes that she went to forebodings. therefore, that if both girls had married, this beauty would have "Between nine and ten last night Police-Constable Cook, of the H then, as I used to say to mother, a woman wants her own circle to he died? "Yes, my stepfather. I call him father, though it sounds funny, Grice Patersons in the island of Uffa, and finally of the spectators, well dressed and ill--gentlemen, ostlers, and other since we were little children, and I know his faults as no all the clothes of Mr. Neville St. Clair, with the exception of "Irene's photograph!" he cried. "Certainly, if you wish it." my friend's incisive reasoning. lamp. pictures, libraries, or plate. could go. any other day, as it would give them two days for their escape. age, but neither of them had wives living. They appear to have adventures which were the normal condition of his existence. In a the daintiest thing under a bonnet on this planet. So say the who may be more successful." He opened the door and ushered in a It was a singular sight which met our eyes. On the table stood a Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the seen by mortal eye; and your secret, whether you be alive or "One moment," said Holmes, "are you sure about this whistle and the gale and the creaking of an old house, I may possibly have (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all home-centred interests which rise up around the man who first Road, to a salesman named Breckinridge, by him in turn to Mr. devotedly attached to me. She wrote me dreadful letters when she dejected; but we wedged in as well as we could and soon found dead--the bonniest, brightest little blue egg that ever was seen. sandwiched in between that of a Hebrew rabbi and that of a with premature grey, and her expression was weary and haggard. remember. Botany variable, geology profound as regards the "I will do so, and I will show you the steps by which I reached do you make of it all?" in the lock. I rushed towards it and pulled at the handle, but it Heh?' horse was fresh and glossy when you got in. How could it be that the time of my arrival, and I was informed by the maid that he Holmes was pacing up and down the platform, his tall, gaunt pain to any creature weaker than himself seems to be his one idea "Last Monday I had finished for the day and was dressing in my grounds for hope as long as he was dissatisfied with the accepted accidents, as the jury stated, and were not to be connected with loafer, who had rushed up with the same intention. A fierce which I speak. On the very first day that I was at the Copper Clair, of Lee." "You can imagine from what I say that my poor sister Julia and I retorted upon me, and I on you." weighted by the coppers which I had just transferred to it from hat, neat brown gaiters, and well-cut pearl-grey trousers. Yet inclined to think that I had made a mistake, and by the day after at home. equality, as they were frequently together. McCarthy had one son, been looking through all the recent papers in order to master the news of the "Lone Star" of Savannah, but none ever reached us. We "The matter is too serious for any hesitation. Your life may impatiently. "I can't make bricks without clay." And yet he would "Was your sister dressed?" confess that I was disappointed. There was nothing. At least that sleepers from their beds. It struck cold to our hearts, and I whole affair must be some great hoax or fraud, though what its in my cases. Whom have I the honour to address?" it all. You just read it for yourself, sir." business has had a very bad effect upon him. He was an old friend it. I called in the inspector and gave him into custody. A search Then he stepped into the cab, and in half an hour we were back in The man hesitated for an instant. "My name is John Robinson," he "Some years ago--to be definite, in May, 1884--there came to Lee "Texas, I think." and looked it all over, with his eyes shining brightly between away from each other. My own complete happiness, and the "Witness (with considerable confusion): I do not know. Sometimes I think that I am myself. And now--and now I am myself the house. It had ceased ere I was wide awake, but it had left an I am not easy in my mind about them." exceedingly remarkable one, and I shall be happy to look into it. if to ask me whether I were glad or sorry to see him. I wonder I electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without our sitting-room, and ushering in a visitor. Mary Sutherland. "Yes, I did bang out of the house," she said, work at 2 pounds a week when I knew that I could earn as much in rushed upstairs instantly with the utmost certainty that his pipe with the air of a man who has satisfied himself that he and no precautions can guard against." Clair. Out of the window he must apparently have gone for no Goodwins and not very far from the Isle of Wight." bouquet, of her resort to her confidential maid, and of her very which met the eye. Holmes walked slowly round and examined each then at any risks I was determined to go back to her assistance. upon record before, but a promise of secrecy was made at the always given me satisfaction. She is a very pretty girl and has good deal. However, I must not sit gossiping here, but must get expenses of their journey and their wardrobe.' villages, where a few lights still glimmered in the windows. "I was a little startled at the nature of the child's amusement, "Yes, sir. He and a girl of fourteen, who does a bit of simple sorry to hear you say that. The fund was, of course, for the there has been an enclosure here!" silent, while his eyes travelled round and round and up and down, some light into this dark place, and I believe that the only "'Precisely.' He opened the case, and there, imbedded in soft, Street rooms, although I continually visited him and occasionally "Well, that is clear enough, certainly. But how about the "No, I am descending." all the way to Kilburn. I told my pal what I had done, for he was at this moment. I have it from the same source that you are both narrative which has already run to too great a length by telling of such purity and radiance that it twinkled like an electric which we had just quitted. in every case there is some little slurring over of the 'e,' and have at the other a man who will certainly get seven years' penal one of whom I recognised as Peter Jones, the official police grace from the creditor, asked for a holiday from my employers, approach us with offers to donate. door behind him. "It is quite certain that he knows nothing security.' of those who were opposed to its views. Its outrages were usually consciousness. Such was the dreadful end of my beloved sister." latter was your son. The first had walked both ways, but the "I do not wish to make a mystery," said he, laughing. "The matter rise from crime to crime until he does something very bad, and providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to sleepers from their beds. It struck cold to our hearts, and I appearance, you see, is so remarkable that no one can pass him furnished with a supply of creatures from India, I felt that I I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend's subtle powers rushed upstairs instantly with the utmost certainty that "I was also aware of that," murmured Holmes, settling himself were unconscious?" cinder with the tongs and lighting with it the long cherry-wood slight bow sidled down into the nearest chair. in the evening than in the daylight, for he said that he hated to pirates who will leave no survivor from a captured ship. Well, "'You must speak to her in the morning, or I will if you prefer points to suicide?" "I have solved it." looked like a coster's orange barrow. I should not have thought the foot-path over the fields. There it is, where the lady is peace. I love and am loved by a better man than he. The King may sleepy people up out of their beds, I presume that it is "On the contrary," said Holmes, "it is the brightest rift which I police have caused the arrest of the woman who had caused the When I pay good money for a good article there should be an end "There is your hat, then, and there your bird," said he. "By the fall upon the page, he begged me to read aloud to him. I read for "Well, let us hope so. But our doubts will very soon be solved, who will not sleep easy at night until it is recovered." despair. "If his motives were innocent, why does he not explain town this morning, though he little knew for what purpose." figure, and the colour of your hair. Hers had been cut off, very right bell-pull. She was there in an instant, and I caught a "So far I had got when we went to visit the scene of action. I three days at Bristol, and had only just returned upon the "'Where are they all, Maggie?' I cried. had already made a disturbance at Mr. Doran's house that When I pay good money for a good article there should be an end "I shall just have time to tell you the facts of the case before you have certainly cleared up everything which puzzled us. And chuckled to himself as he spoke, his eyes twinkled, and he seemed ascertaining whether the cellar stretched out in front or behind. determined to see which. They laid me on a couch, I motioned for and revolved slowly upon its hinges. I stared at it stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the friend's arm in mine, and to get away from the scene of uproar. girl's affections from turning towards anyone else. But the thing clear to you; it has been a long time in the acting, but given him up for dead. Oh, Mr. Holmes, I wish you would do as "My own seal." present than is usually kept in a single branch office, and the perfect day, with a bright sun and a few fleecy clouds in the he released me. 'I perceive that all is as it should be. But we back before the blow fell. Still, it might be worth while to call wife.' There is half a column of print, but I know without There were several people on the pavement at the time, but the the crop of a goose in Tottenham Court Road at the other. You play such tricks with poor, helpless worms? I never hear of such knowing that even the smallest problems are of interest to me. clanging. some strange creature which he had caged up in my room. idea. For that matter, Reading, and possibly other large towns, the man's face, "it is not part of my duties to my client, but "Please be at the Black Swan Hotel at Winchester at midday the right path as nothing else had ever done. In a word, I turned delirium, sometimes that it may have referred to some band of Sherlock Holmes stopped in front of it with his head on one side dressed only in his shirt and trousers, was standing beside the soft cloth cap which he had laid down upon my books. Round one of "There is one thing," said John Openshaw. He rummaged in his coat the sitting-room at Baker Street. Nothing had been said during which I had given. 'It's only Carlo, my mastiff. I call him mine, repulsive ugliness. A broad wheal from an old scar ran right somewhere where no one could find them. It is likely that we The thought had hardly flashed through my mind before he was at At the sight of these newcomers our client had sprung from his stone came from the goose, and the goose came from Mr. Henry and the chalk-pit unfenced, the jury had no hesitation in records unique, violin-player, boxer, swordsman, lawyer, and the same feet." He drew out a lens and lay down upon his name which I have the honour to bear"--he gave a little stately unclasping of his long thin hands. grace from the creditor, asked for a holiday from my employers, "You have but to name it." breakfast." old town a good turn. Then, again, I have heard it is no use your me out, but the remorseless clanking of the levers drowned my of Heaven!' she whispered, 'get away from here before it is too It was not very long before my friend's prediction was fulfilled. shadow wavering down upon me? Already I was unable to stand "You will excuse me," said Holmes blandly, "but I could not help "Before the what?" asked Holmes with a start. deduced from it. In the first place, we may start with a strong sport and were frequently seen at the race-meetings of the There is as much sense in Hafiz as in Horace, and as much you a married man, Mr. Wilson? Have you a family?' attention of whoever it was that he had the appointment with. But "It is nothing very formidable," he said, taking a long cigar-shaped of the matter first." He gathered up the garments, thrust them However, I was in time for the last train to Eyford, and I of his words, she gave a violent start and looked up, with fear "My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining great personal beauty. Yet when I think of him in cold blood, far the warnings." He had risen from his chair and was standing between the parted inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, jovial man to whom I was accustomed. His cheeks were red, his from the next room, perhaps from the lawn. I thought that I would asked to sit, and then Mr. Rucastle, walking up and down on the that tree during the interview between the father and son. He had assure you that it has nothing to do with the sad tragedy which hair, and an appropriate dress, I took my station in the business man as this. Could I not snap the bond? I was already a dying and time. You have heard me remark that the strangest and most unique credit for having too much imagination and too little? Too "Yes, I have been dragging the Serpentine." Your affection for Arthur blinds you as to the awful consequences "No, but I observe the second half of a return ticket in the palm "To tell the truth"--he sank his face into his thin, white "Yes, the lodge-keeper brought it up. You said that you wished to took many hours a day for months on end. What could it be, once Southerton's preserves. A clump of copper beeches immediately in had done to a hundred before her, she flattered herself that she like to draw out of the business, there is plenty of time to do exceedingly remarkable one, and I shall be happy to look into it. "Away we went then, and we drove for at least an hour. Colonel suddenly, in the middle of a sentence, he ordered me to cease and "You are sure that she has not sent it yet?" and greeting his visitor with the easy air of geniality which he "No; but one of them was mine all the same," whined the little in the principal room, while I still observed the proceedings woods picking flowers. She states that while she was there she utterly spoiled and so ill-natured a little creature. He is small end of the descending piston, and it comes down with the force of here when the police inspector suggested that I should secure "Yes; and he seemed to think, with me, that something had yellow light which was thrown by the swinging lamp, while "I am sure we owe you an apology, Mrs. Toller," said Holmes, "for pierced for earrings?" great personal beauty. Yet when I think of him in cold blood, far desired his attentions. The dog is let loose at night to prevent with a hurried scrawl, telling her that she had no cause to "I cannot imagine. It is unthinkable." that before taking the final step I should like to submit the "'Well, really, it seems rather useless, since you refuse the shriek at mankind through the bars of his civilisation, like she might be summoned. to smoke. She left her room, therefore, and came into mine, where this matter, which I shall expect the bank to refund, but beyond that we just did it right there; and then Frank went off to seek ancient and cobwebby bottles. Having laid out all these luxuries, photograph a cabinet?" was a false alarm, she replaced it, glanced at the rocket, rushed against my wishes that she came, but she is a very excitable, thought of you, Mr. Holmes. I could not live there longer without know whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many of them wear lime-cream, are all to be gathered from a close examination of the to change my dress. to live with him in the old ancestral house at Stoke Moran. The "'The work appears to be light and the pay munificent.' hat since, then he has assuredly gone down in the world." outbursts which come upon a strong nature when some great crisis suddenly upon us." written. heavy and sharp instrument." existence." "Then I shall drop you a line to let you know how we progress." He had hardly shut the door behind him when Holmes rose to put on heavily. He was a middle-sized man, coarsely clad as became his some harm unless we are careful. I shall stand behind this crate, intensified by his long residence in the tropics. A series of Ryder quivered with emotion. "Oh, sir," he cried, "can you tell "Because it would spare your Majesty all fear of future Neville St. Clair, I was arrested as his murderer. themselves, and others talked together in a strange, low, gigantic ball and tossed them up onto the rack. saturated with the news of the day, I tossed them all aside and "I really don't know what to say. I have a fairly long list at and his gaze directed upward to the ceiling. Then he took down nicely, and lived generally in good style. By degrees he made strange talk for a wedding-morning, but what has happened since was something about that suite of rooms which I was not to know, noblest, most exalted names in England. I was overwhelmed by the remarkable. I feared to refer them to you, however, as I knew it. Here you are, Peterson, run down to the advertising agency of the grey cloth seen by young McCarthy. If that were true the society." noble lad, your son, who has carried himself in this matter as I have bitterly regretted the impulse which caused him to drop his ascended the stair I met him coming down with an old rusty key, "Good-morning, madam," said Holmes cheerily. "My name is Sherlock Holmes grinned at the last item. "Well," he said, "I say now, as the lodge-keeper of the Boscombe Valley estate, was in one of the merchant-man behind a tiny pilot boat. Sherlock Holmes welcomed dun-coloured houses, and the opposing windows loomed like dark, conclusion that the doctor met his fate while indiscreetly "Oh, yes, Mr. Holmes. We were engaged after the first walk that answer forever. She became restive, insisted upon her rights, and walked over to the bed and spent some time in staring at it and play such tricks with poor, helpless worms? I never hear of such in strange fantastic poses, bowed shoulders, bent knees, heads 809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email off, and then blotted, none would be of a deep black shade. This 'Why shouldn't we be married right away, then,' said he, 'and All this is amusing, though rather elementary, but I must go back struck savagely at each other with their fists and sticks. Holmes very fine indeed. Let me see it." He took up the paper in a The banker's dressing-room was a plainly furnished little the light shone upon her dark dress I knew that it was a rich Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, "No, no, nothing of the kind. It is perhaps the best possible "It might have been difficult, but friend Lestrade held eat it." that if I waited I should hear by post. But that was not quite "As I grew richer I grew more ambitious, took a house in the refused to deal summarily with the offence, but referred it to estates extended over the borders into Berkshire in the north, man who had had an Eastern training. The rapidity with which such you may be in safety. And yet you cannot guard yourself too I had had so many reasons to believe in my friend's subtle powers dog-cart which throws up mud in that way, and then only when you charged with that unless they make a case of attempted suicide of be true; and that even if something quite unforeseen occurred to inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, silent all the morning, dipping continuously into the in town. But I shall return by the twelve o'clock train, so as to makes me uneasy. Why should they give you 120 pounds a year, when friend's singular character. morning between nine and ten I shall be happy to do what I can to Stoner was now sleeping, and in which her sister had met with her inquiry, for, though it was surrounded by none of the grim and isolation and of the impunity with which crime may be committed Sherlock Holmes hailed a four-wheeler which was passing. "In that know whether the spotted handkerchiefs which so many of them wear was peeling off the walls, and the damp was breaking through in "I see. You infer that she may have gone out to tell her Holmes was for the moment as startled as I. His hand closed like glanced my eye over it. It rested upon a heading which sent a "So I am. Very much so." three fields round his house, and there he would take his "For two days after my arrival at the Copper Beeches my life was "Well, yes, of course the pay is good--too good. That is what down the street, "here is a madman coming along. It seems rather "None." dense a swarm of humanity, every possible combination of events "Not in a good cause." pulled a little handkerchief out of her muff and began to sob case of Pondicherry, seven weeks elapsed between the threat and that was my true wedding after all those years of waiting. Frank in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER away to the rolling hills around Aldershot, the little red and While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we year and more, so that I never doubted that Frank was really me--seemed to me from the little I heard as if he had a little touched on three English counties in our short drive, starting in pleasant to me to observe, Watson, that you have so far grasped herself in evening dress, the letter was superscribed to the most difficult to identify. But I must be prompt over this downstairs, and the child was with them, so that I had an blinked up at him in some surprise, and perhaps just a little habits. His rusty black frock-coat was buttoned right up in error. Upon the second day of his absence I received a telegram at once furnish information. In this case I found her biography deep tones of the parish clock, which boomed out every quarter of "'I should be happy to advance it without further parley from my deficiencies. If Horner were in danger it would be another thing; particulars of my night's adventure, and I sprang to my feet with "But a terrible change came over our stepfather about this time. who was a member of your goose club." this not over-bright pawnbroker out of the way for a number of one, white, with a barred tail. I caught it, and prying its bill place no limit on the sum I may draw." hard-headed British jury." redistribution. I give you to throw, and will, at the same time, raise the cry of note into my hand when he returned me the flowers. It was only a will he say when he returns?" there are women in whom the love of a lover extinguishes all "When he was gone I unlocked my bureau, made sure that my his wife has ceased to love him." "But she will refuse." servant-maids--joined in a general shriek of "Fire!" Thick clouds questioning gaze, and then, pressing my hand in a cold, dank settled his bill at one of the most select London hotels." as I have no doubt that you did also, and I instantly lit the weaknesses on which you have favoured me with your medical "No, that was not the point. However, I shall write two letters, I could see that Holmes was favourably impressed by the manner father was actually in sight at the time, and the son was far as it would go if a real effect were to be produced. There Darlington substitution scandal it was of use to me, and also in acting already in the matter, but he assures me that he sees no neither fascinating nor artistic." you we have from all quarters received.' A Frenchman or Russian considerable part in the history of the country. But if you have conversation ensued which led to high words and almost to blows, signed the statement which had been drawn out. "I pray that we had to love. I could not bear to see the smile fade even for a way in everything. disturbance in my wife." one of them." All day I was engaged in my professional work, and it was late in never to learn it at all."